Major Hong Kong banks held their prime lending rates steady Thursday, following the U.S. Federal Reserve's decision overnight to keep the benchmark U.S. interest rate near zero.

The banks disclosed they were keeping the rates unchanged after the Hong Kong Monetary Authority said earlier Thursday it kept its base rate at 0.50%.

HSBC Holdings PLC (HBC) unit Hongkong & Shanghai Banking Corp. said Thursday it is keeping its prime lending rate unchanged at 5.00%. Hang Seng Bank Ltd. (0011.HK), another HSBC unit, and BOC Hong Kong (Holdings) Ltd. (2388.HK) also held their prime rates steady at 5.00%.

The Fed's policy-setting board unanimously voted overnight to keep the target federal funds rate unchanged at zero to 0.25%.

Although the HKMA typically moves in tandem with the Fed, Hong Kong's commercial banks set their own rates. They declined to go along with four Fed rate cuts between October and December that brought the federal funds rate to as low as zero from 3.50%.

-By Jackie Cheung and Jeffrey Ng, Dow Jones Newswires; 852-2802-7002; jackie.cheung@dowjones.com