Stocks in Asia was seen rising on Thursday, tracking gains seen on Wall Street overnight after minutes from the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) September meeting spurred speculation that US interest rates will remain low for some time.
“The overriding tone of the September FOMC meeting minutes was dovish, signaling a Fed that is more comfortable with the current forward guidance framework than at the last meeting, and more concerned about the downside risks to growth posed by external developments and the strong dollar,” Millan Mulraine of TD Securities said in a note.
“The key takeaway from this report is simply that the Fed appears to be on alert about the downside risks posed to the economy from the softening in global activity and the strong dollar,” he added.
The US dollar weakened a basket of its major peers after the release from the US Federal Reserve.
The Japanese benchmark Nikkei 225 index edged 0.41% higher to trade at 15,660 point at the time of writing, while Tokyo’s Topix index eased 0.02% to 1,274.60 points.
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The Japanese yen weakened against the US dollar on Thursday, trading around 108.2 yen against 107.8 on Wednesday.
The weakened yen boosted exporter’s gains, with real estate developer Sumitomo Reality & Development 2% higher, Hino Motors and Toyota Motor gained 1% each.
In Japan, a government data showed that core machinery orders in August rose 4.7% on a monthly basis, compared to analysts forecast of a 1.1% rise.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index climbed 0.88% to 23,467.87 points, while the Chinese benchmark Shanghai Composite added 0.06% to 2,384.12 points at the same time.
The Korean markets were closed on Thursday for Hangeul Proclamation Day.
Australia’s benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index was up 1.1% to 5,299.40 points, boosting mining stocks.
Mining giants BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto added 1.1% and 0.5% respectively, while Atlas Iron edged 2.7%.
In banking stocks, Commonwealth Bank of Australia and Westpac added 1.5% each, while the ANZ went up by 1.9% and National Australia Bank edged 0.8% higher.
European stocks opened with strong gains on Thursday following the release from the US Federal Reserve minutes which hinted that the central bank are not going to raise interest rates anytime soon. Meanwhile, the spotlight is on the Bank of England (BoE) monetary policy meeting scheduled to begin later in the day.
The European Euro Stoxx 50 rose 1.02% higher to 3,084.50, while the French CAC 40 surge 1.02% to 4,210.30. Meanwhile, Germany’s DAX index added 0.92% to 9,077.80 and UK’s FTSE 100 advanced 0.91% to trade at 6,539.30.
In Germany, the nation’s trade surplus shrank to 14.1 billion euros in August from 23.5 billion euros recorded in the previous month on a non-seasonally adjusted basis, according to a report from the Federal Statistical Office.
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