By Rae Wee
SINGAPORE (Reuters) -Asia shares edged up on Thursday after a Wall Street rally as investor sentiment was lifted by the prospect that the Federal Reserve could still deliver two rate cuts this year, though the gains were limited by a pullback in Chinese equities.
The Fed on Wednesday left rates unchanged in a widely expected decision, but maintained its projection for two quarter-percentage-point rate cuts by the year-end.
Policymakers did revise up their inflation forecast for the year and marked down their outlook for economic growth, citing risks from U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariff policies.
Still, investors took comfort from the Fed’s “dot plot” of policy rate expectations and Chair Jerome Powell’s comments that tariff-driven inflation would be “transitory” and largely confined to this year, in turn sending stocks higher while U.S. Treasury yields and the dollar fell.
Australian shares jumped 1%, while U.S. futures also extended their rally after the cash session ended on a high.
Nasdaq futures ticked up 0.62% and S&P 500 futures advanced 0.46%.
But stocks in Europe looked set to open lower, with EUROSTOXX 50 futures down 0.07% and FTSE futures easing 0.15%.
Trading was thinned with Japan markets closed for a holiday, though Nikkei futures edged up 0.3%.
Kerry Craig, global market strategist at J.P. Morgan Asset Management, said the Fed’s easing bias remained and it would continue to assess downbeat forward-looking consumer business surveys against robust backward-looking data such as a resilient labour market.
“The Fed doesn’t have all the answers but faces plenty of questions about how it is interpreting the shift in the U.S. economy and policy impacts,” he said. “For now, the market seems reassured that the Fed is ready to act if needed.”
Gold scaled yet another record high of $3,057.21 an ounce, helped by the prospect of further Fed easing this year. [GOL/]
Trading of cash U.S. Treasuries was closed owing to the Japan holiday, though futures ticked higher, implying lower yields. Bond yields move inversely to prices. [US/]
That in turn undermined the dollar, which fell 0.18% against the yen to 148.40, while the euro was not far from a five-month high at $1.0893.
Sterling scaled a four-month top of $1.3015 early in the session, ahead of the Bank of England’s policy decision later on Thursday, where it is similarly expected to keep rates on hold.
“We expect the (Monetary Policy Committee) members to signal the desire to see further disinflation as a reason to keep policy on hold this month. They will affirm that the policy direction remains towards further easing, but the timing will be data-dependent,” ANZ analysts said.