SYDNEY: Asian shares advanced and the dollar fell on Thursday (Jul 27) after a well-flagged US rate rise delivered no major surprises, although policymakers in Europe and Japan could pose risks for markets with their own interest rate decisions.
S&P 500 futures rose 0.2 per cent while Nasdaq futures gained 0.5 per cent, helped by a 6.8 per cent jump in Meta Platforms in after-hours trading. Facebook’s parent company reported a strong rise in advertising revenue, topping Wall Street targets.
In Asia, MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 1.2 per cent amid hopes that the US tightening cycle could be over now.
Japan’s Nikkei was flat.
China’s blue chips added 0.6 per cent while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index gained 1.5 per cent.
During the much-watched press conference, Chair Jerome Powell remained non-committal about the prospects of a hike in the next meeting in September, though analysts said a continued slowing of inflation and weaker economic data may prompt policymakers to pause.
“Chair Powell post the FOMC outcome started off sticking to script, but slowly morphed to an acknowledgement that inflation has indeed fallen, the real rate had risen and was indeed in a restrictive state,” said Padhraic Garvey, regional head of research, Americas, at ING.
“As the conference went on he was almost on the verge of a nod towards an eventual rate cutting track down the line,” said Garvey.
“Next up is the ECB’s Lagarde, who is more prone to deviate. The 25bp hike is not the point. The tone is.”Source: Reuters
