The Federal Reserve’s announcement to leave interest rates unchanged for the third consecutive time and signal three rate cuts in 2024 triggered a rally in the US stock markets, and Asia didn’t want to be left behind.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index leads the rally in Asian stock markets on Thursday morning, although Australia’s leading stock index is rising more than the stock market in Hong Kong at the time of writing (shortly after 06:40 Swedish time).
The Tokyo Stock Exchange is the only index in the region going against the trend and is down.
It is, of course, the American central bank’s decision to keep interest rates in the range of 5.25 percent to 5.5 percent for the third time in a row that is behind the otherwise overwhelming stock market euphoria both in the Asia-Pacific region and on Wall Street in the USA.
How the Markets in the Asia-Pacific Region Are Performing
CNBC’s live stock market report shows that the Hang Seng in Hong Kong lifts 1.13 percent, while S&P/ASX 200 in Australia is up 1.65 percent.
On the other hand, Japan’s Nikkei 225 loses 0.68 percent.
The Shanghai Stock Exchange in Mainland China lifts 0.04 percent while South Korea’s Kospi advances a full 1.21 percent, with the South Korean Kosdaq also increasing significantly.
On the New York Stock Exchange, the industrially heavy Dow Jones ended yesterday’s trading by rising to new record levels, up 1.4 percent.
It was the first time, according to CNBC, that the Dow Jones closed above the 37,000 level.
The broad S&P 500 rose 1.37 percent and passed the 4,700 mark for the first time since January 2022.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq climbed 1.38 percent.
All leading US stock indices reached 52-week highs, it appears.