The Asian stock markets have been trading positively on Thursday after Wall Street was negatively influenced by the US Federal Reserve’s decision to leave interest rates at the same level and note that inflation is still “somewhat high.”
Investors responded to the Fed’s policy announcement, which was hawkish. However, concerns remained over US tariffs and trade policies.
The markets in China, Hong Kong Singapore, South Korea Malaysia and Taiwan are closed during the Lunar New Year holiday. Trading volumes were low in the area due to the closure of the main market.
The Australian stock market has been trading up on Thursday. This is a continuation of gains made in the previous session, despite Wall Street’s decline.
S&P/ASX 200 has risen above 8,500, boosted by mining, financial, and energy stocks.
After reaching an earlier high of 8,515.70, the index has gained 53.70 or 0.65% points to 8,500.70.
After opening the day in a negative zone, Japan’s market has been trading in an choppy session, but is still modestly up, continuing to build on its Wednesday gains.
Nikkei is heading towards the level of 39,500, as advances in tech stocks are partially offset by weakness among index heavyweights, financial stocks, and other stocks.
The index, at the time this article was written, had risen by 0.30% and traded at 39,534.76.
SoftBank Group, as an individual stock, is down by more than 1%. Fast Retailing, however, is only 0.3% lower. Toyota has gained 0.3% while Honda is off 0.4%.
SoftBank has been reported to be in talks with OpenAI about investing between $15 and $25 billion. Softbank will surpass Microsoft in terms of OpenAI’s largest investor if the deal is completed.
Wall Street stock prices fall after Fed pause
US stock prices ended Wednesday lower, giving up some gains made in the previous session. Major averages rebounded from earlier losses but finished the day in negative territory.
The Nasdaq fell 101.26 point, or 0.5% to 19,632.32, and the S&P 500 declined 28.39 points or 0.5% to 6,039.31. The Dow closed at 44,713.52 after losing 136.83 or 0.3% points.
Markets pulled back after the Federal Reserve decided to keep interest rates at their current level following its first meeting in 2025. This was a widely expected move.
The Federal Funds Rate was kept at its current target of 4.25%-4.50%. This is in line with the central bank’s long term goal to achieve maximum employment while maintaining a stable inflation rate below 2%.
The Fed described inflation as being “somewhat high” and reiterated their commitment to bring it back down to the 2% goal.
Next monetary policy meetings are scheduled to take place on March 18-19. Officials will present updated projections of interest rates, inflation and economic growth.
The CME’s FedWatch Tool shows that there is a probability of 71.6% for the Fed to keep its rates the same and 28.2% for a rate reduction by a quarter point.
The post Nikkei rises 100 points as US Fed keeps rates unchanged: Asian stocks soar may change as new information becomes available.
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