BEIJING — Asian stock markets rose Wednesday ahead of the release of minutes from a Federal Reserve meeting that investors hope might show the U.S. central bank is moderating its plans for more interest rate hikes to cool inflation.
Wall Street fell Tuesday in the year’s first trading day after recording its biggest annual decline in 14 years in 2022.
Traders worry the Fed and other central banks might be willing to push the world into recession to extinguish inflation that is at multi-decade highs. They hope minutes due out Wednesday from the Fed’s December meeting might show policymakers are reducing or delaying planned rate hikes due to signs economic activity is slowing.
“While the Fed expects to keep rates higher for longer, markets continue to push back, betting on easier policy,” Rubeela Farooqi and John Silvia of High-Frequency Economics said in a report. However, they said, “we do not think a pivot to rate cuts is likely this year.”
ນິກາຍ 225
Nik,
in Tokyo sank 1.4%. The Hang Seng
ບໍລິສັດ HSI,
in Hong Kong rose 2% while the Shanghai Composite Index
SHCOMP, ທ.
ເພີ່ມຂຶ້ນ 0.3%.
Kospi
180721,
in Seoul advanced 1.4% and Sydney’s S&P/ASX 200
XJO,
was 1.5% higher. New Zealand
NZ50GR,
ແລະສິງກະໂປ
ພະຍາດຕິດຕໍ່ທາງເພດ ສຳ ພັນ,
advanced while Jakarta
JAKIDX,
ປະຕິເສດ.
On Wall Street, the benchmark S&P 500 index
SPX,
lost 0.4% to 3,824.14. The Dow Jones Industrial Average
ດີເຈ,
slipped less than 0.1% to 33,136.37 and the Nasdaq composite
ຄອມພີວເຕີ,
ຫຼຸດລົງ 0.8% ມາເປັນ 10,386.98.
On top of concerns about inflation, investors worry about the impact of Russia’s war against Ukraine and China’s COVID-19 outbreaks.
The Fed’s key lending rate stands at a range of 4.25% to 4.5%, up from close to zero following seven increases last year.
The U.S. central bank forecasts that it will reach a range of 5% to 5.25% by the end of 2023. It isn’t calling for a rate cut before 2024.
The U.S. government is due to release December employment figures Thursday. Those are expected to show a decline in hiring. Investors hope that will encourage the Fed to lower or delay possible rate hikes.
The central bank’s next policy decision on interest rates is set for Feb. 1.
Investors also are looking for corporate profit reports in mid-January. Analysts polled by FactSet expect earnings for companies in the S&P 500 to slip during the fourth quarter and remain flat for the first half of 2023.
ໃນຕະຫຼາດພະລັງງານ, benchmark US crude
CLG23,
shed 5 cents to $76.88 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract fell $3.33 to $76.93 on Tuesday. Brent crude
BRNH23, ທ.
the price basis for international oil trading, gained 15 cents to $82.25 per barrel in London. It lost $3.81 the previous session to $82.10.
ເງິນໂດລາ
USDJPY,
edged up to 130.80 yen from Tuesday’s 131.03 yen.
Source: https://www.marketwatch.com/story/asian-markets-mostly-rose-ahead-of-fed-update-01672805245?siteid=yhoof2&yptr=yahoo