SINGAPORE: Asian stocks struggled for direction in choppy trading on Thursday (Jul 30) after a week of market turbulence sparked by artificial intelligence jitters, as a divided Federal Reserve stood pat on rates and left bond markets uncertain about the next move. The dollar was on the defensive after the US central bank held rates steady, although the split decision left investors confused on whether the Fed will see through rate hikes to combat inflation. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was flat after swinging wildly between gains and losses. Japan's Nikkei was 1.2 per cent higher, but set for a 3.7 per cent drop in the week. Both are declining but we would ideally need to see some levelling off," said Kim.