Asia stocks rose to a four-month high on Thursday after the Federal Reserve pledged to be patient with further interest rate hikes, signaling a potential end to its tightening cycle amid signs of slowing global growth.
The dollar struggled near a three-week trough against its major peers and U.S. Treasury yields were significantly lower as investors reacted to the Fed’s change in tone.
Spreadbetters expected European stocks to follow Asia’s lead and open higher, with Britain’s FTSE edging up 0.05 per cent and Germany’s DAX and France’s CAC each climbing 0.3 per cent.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose to its highest since Oct. 4 and was last up 0.9 per cent. Japan’s Nikkei rose 1 per cent.
The Shanghai Composite Index climbed 0.3 per cent despite data showing China’s factory activity contracted for a second straight month amid weakening orders.
South Korea’s KOSPI added 0.3 per cent.
The Fed on Wednesday held interest rates steady as expected, and also discarded its promises of “further gradual increases” in interest rates.
The central bank said it would be “patient” before making any further moves amid a suddenly cloudy outlook for the U.S. economy due to global growth risks and impasses over trade and government budget negotiations.
On Wall Street, the Dow and the Nasdaq rallied 1.7 per cent and 2.2 per cent, respectively, on hopes the Fed’s pause would give the U.S. economy and corporate profits more room to run.
Late in December the Dow had sunk to its lowest level since September 2017, dogged by factors including worries over cooling economic growth and trade tensions, adding pressure on the Fed to reassess its tightening bias.
“The Fed’s statements firmly confirmed its dovish stance, which had already been on display at the start of the year.
“Market concerns towards the Fed’s rate hikes have now been put to rest. The mention of the balance sheet by the Fed was a positive surprise.
“The focus now shifts immediately to U.S.-China trade talks, but the equity markets could have enough cushioning to withstand negative news from the talks,” said Masahiro Ichikawa, senior strategist at Sumitomo Mitsui Asset Management in Tokyo.
With the Fed decision out of the way, investors focused their attention on a pivotal round of high-level U.S.-China two-day trade talk, which began in Washington on Wednesday, aimed at easing a months-long tariff war.
If the two sides cannot reach a deal soon, Washington has threatened to more than double tariffs on Chinese goods on March 2.
In currencies, the dollar index against a basket of six major currencies stretched the previous day’s losses and slipped to a three-week low of 95.204.
A weaker dollar helped nudge the euro to 1.1509 dollars, its highest since Jan. 11.
The greenback was slipped about 0.3 percent to a two-week low of 108.695 yen.
The pound was a shade higher at 1.3127 dollars, given some reprieve after slipping earlier in the week when British lawmakers voted down a proposal in parliament that could have prevented a potentially chaotic “no-deal” Brexit.
The benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury yield extended its decline to as far as 2.674 per cent, its lowest since Jan. 14.
Oil prices rose after U.S. government data showed signs of tightening supply and as investors remained concerned about supply disruptions following U.S. sanctions on Venezuela’s oil industry.
U.S. crude oil futures were up 0.7 per cent at 54.59 dollars per barrel.
