In Asian Equity Markets stocks made cautious gains on Thursday, supported by some positive news from cash-strapped developer China Evergrande Group, while the dollar held near a one-month top after the U.S. Federal Reserve took a hawkish tilt overnight. The Hong Kong benchmark rose 0.7 percent, while MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan added 0.5 percent. Elsewhere, Chinese blue chips gained 0.7 percent, Australia’s benchmark rose 1 percent, and South Korea’s Kospi fell 0.6 percent. Japan equity markets were shut for a holiday.

In Currency Markets the dollar eased slightly from a one-month high on Thursday, after the Federal Reserve set the stage for rate hikes next year but left enough breathing room to slow things down, if necessary, while sterling traded firmly ahead of a Bank of England meeting. In an Asia session thinned by a holiday in Japan, the euro bounced a bit to $1.1705, scraping off a one-month low. Sterling was up 0.1 percent to $1.3643 as investors weighed the risk of a hawkish surprise from the central bank. The dollar index fell from a one-month high of 92.526 to 92.369.

In US Equity Markets stocks rose on Wednesday as investors mostly took in stride the latest signals from the Federal Reserve, including clearing the way for the central bank to reduce its monthly bond purchases soon. The Dow rose 1 percent, to 34,258.32, the S&P 500 gained 0.95 percent, to 4,395.64 and the Nasdaq Composite added 1.02 percent, to 14,896.85. Apple and other big technology-related names gave the S&P 500 its biggest boost. On the downside, FedEx Corp lost 9.1 percent after posting a lower quarterly profit and as the delivery firm cut its full-year earnings forecast.

In Commodities Markets oil prices climbed on Wednesday after U.S. crude stocks fell to their lowest levels in three years as refining activity recovered from recent storms. U.S. crude settled up 2.5 percent at $72.23 per barrel and Brent settled at $76.19, up 2.5 percent on the day. Spot gold, meanwhile, inched up 0.2 percent at $1,777.74 per ounce. Palladium rose as much as 8.4 percent to $2,066.61, set for its best day since March 2020, while platinum climbed about 6 percent to $1,011. Silver too followed along, climbing 2 percent to $22.91 per ounce.

In European Equity Markets stocks rose on Wednesday after debt-laden developer China Evergrande said it would make some interest payments, while investors awaited a signal from the U.S. Federal Reserve on how and when it will rein in its massive stimulus. The Europe-wide STOXX 600 index rose 1.0 percent, extending Tuesday’s bounce after its worst session in two months, with commodity-linked stocks and banks leading gains. The travel & leisure index rose 2.5 percent hitting a 14-week high, after Entain jumped 5.1 percent on revealing a $22.4 billion takeover proposal from Boston-based DraftKings.

In Bond Markets U.S. Treasury yields see-sawed on Wednesday after the Federal Reserve said it would reduce its monthly bond purchases “soon” and investors grappled with a timeline that suggested higher interest rates may follow more quickly than expected. The yield on 10-year Treasury notes was last down 2 basis points at 1.304 percent, while yields at the longer end fell further. The two-year U.S. Treasury yield was up 2.4 basis points at 0.240 percent. The breakeven rate on five-year U.S. Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities (TIPS) was last at 2.429 percent.

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