Asia Markets react to US Fed remarks
[ad_1]
SINGAPORE — Asia-Pacific markets were set to trade mixed on Thursday as investors digest an overnight update from the U.S. Federal Reserve that indicated the central bank plans to raise interest rates as soon as March.
Nikkei futures indicated a cautious opening in Japan, while Australia’s benchmark was ASX 200In early trade, the stock rose by 0.85%
Following overnight Wall Street falls, Thursday’s Asia-Pacific session saw a decline in Wall Street. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished the day down 129 point. It had gained more than 500 points after receiving an update from the Fed.
Oil prices rose up to 2% overnight according to an international benchmark Brent crude futuresFor the first time since 2014, Wednesday’s record was $90
Samsung Electronics will report its fourth quarter earnings.
Taiwan’s market closes on Thursday due to holiday.
Fed meeting, U.S. markets
The Federal Open Market Committee said a quarter-percentage point increase to its benchmark short-term borrowing rate is likely forthcoming — it would be the Fed’s first hike since December 2018.
Jerome Powell, Fed Chair indicated that the U.S. central banking had “quite the bit of room to hike interest rates without threatening our labor market” at a news conference. The stateside inflation rate is at its highest level for nearly 40 years.
The Fed didn’t give an exact time, but indications indicate that the Fed could raise interest as early as March.
The Fed used the meeting to discuss balance sheet normalisation, and it released principles about its strategy for shrinking balance-sheet. The ANZ analysts stressed that it was important to have the balance-sheet predictable, but still sensitive to markets.
Major U.S. stock market averages reversed gains after Powell’s comments.
Closed at 34.168.09, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.4% Wednesday. Before the Fed update, it was up over 500 points. The S&P 500 slid 0.2% to 4,349.93, while the Nasdaq Composite ended the session almost flat at 13,542.12, buoyed by Microsoft’s post-earnings gain.
Russia-Ukraine tensions lead to oil reaching $90
Brent crude oil futures rose more than 2 percent on Wednesday to a peak of $90.47 per barrel for the first time in October 2014. After a short time, however, the contract fell back and settled at $89.96 per gallon.
Tensions between Russia, Ukraine led to the price change continue to growThese fears and the possibility of an attack against Eastern European countries remain.
U.S. crude prices also increased by 2%, to $87.35 per barrel after reaching an all-time high of $87.95 in the previous session.
Currencies
The U.S. dollar index,The greenback is compared to a basket of peers. It was traded last at 95.948.
The following currencies are available: Japanese yenTraded at 114.70 USD, while the Australian dollarWas at $0.7120
— CNBC’s Saheli Roy Choudhury, Jeff Cox, Hannah Miao and Fred Imbert contributed to this report.
[ad_2]