{"id":115872,"date":"2022-05-05T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-05-05T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/pressarabia.qa\/?guid=cccdfe7bd998db57bddf536c67ee1fec"},"modified":"2022-05-05T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2022-05-05T00:00:00","slug":"asian-shares-firm-as-fed-tempers-aggressive-rate-hike-bets","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pressarabia.qa\/asian-shares-firm-as-fed-tempers-aggressive-rate-hike-bets\/","title":{"rendered":"Asian shares firm as Fed tempers aggressive rate hike bets"},"content":{"rendered":"
Hong Kong, Asian shares tracked Wall Street gains on Thursday after the U.S. central bank raised interest rates by 50 basis points but sounded a less hawkish tone than some had feared, lifting investor sentiment and sending the dollar lower.<\/P>
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MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 0.93%, although trading was thin with Japanese and Korean markets closed for public holidays.<\/P>
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China’s shares defied the broader rally with rising COVID-19 cases and a strict lockdown in the financial hub of Shanghai weighing on sentiment.<\/P>
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Marcella Chow, Hong Kong-based global market strategist at J.P. Morgan Asset Management, said the Federal Reserve’s 50-basis point hike was in line with expectations, hence removing some investor concerns about a more aggressive move.<\/P>
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“Given the Asian market has more certainty right now, I think this will probably also cause the market to rally a bit as well,” she said, according to Reuters.<\/P>
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Asia’s gains followed a U.S. rally overnight where the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 2.81%, the S&P 500 gained 2.99% and the Nasdaq advanced 3.19%.<\/P>
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Hong Kong’s benchmark Hang Seng Index rose 0.77% in early trading, with the tech sector index adding 1.43%.<\/P>
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This week, Hong Kong stocks have edged lower while the offshore Chinese yuan has been volatile though still stronger than it was last week.<\/P>
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Australia’s S&P\/ASX 200 also performed strongly with a 0.61% increase.<\/P>
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However, China’s benchmark CSI300 opened 0.16% lower as mainland markets resumed trade after a three-day holiday.<\/P>
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“There are still COVID-19 cases in Shanghai and different cities so this will continue to also potentially drag consumer and investor sentiment,” J.P. Morgan Asset Management’s Chow said.<\/P>
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The Fed’s half a percentage point rate increase was the biggest jump in 22 years. Fed Chair Jerome Powell said policymakers were ready to approve similar-sized rate hikes at upcoming policy meetings in June and July.<\/P>
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Powell also said the Fed was not “actively considering” a 75 basis-point rate hike, tempering some market expectations for an aggressive tightening path.<\/P>
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That sent the dollar lower, where it stayed in early Asia.<\/P>
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The dollar index, which measures the greenback against six peers, was at 102.49, having been as firm as 103.63 on Wednesday.<\/P>
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U.S. Treasuries were not trading because of the holiday in Japan, but yields also fell overnight. The benchmark 10-year yield was last 2.9402%, down from just over 3%.<\/P>
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U.S. crude futures gained 0.4% to $108.21 a barrel and Brent rose 0.36% $110.54. Both benchmarks rose over $5 a barrel on Wednesday.<\/P>
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Source: Bahrain News Agency<\/P>
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Hong Kong, Asian shares tracked Wall Street gains on Thursday after the U.S. central bank raised interest rates by 50 basis points but sounded a less hawkish tone than some had feared, lifting investor sentiment and sending the dollar lower.MSCI’s broa…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n