Article by ForexTime
As widely expected, on Wednesday the US Federal Reserve announced its decision to raise interest rates and tighten monetary for the first time in almost a decade.
Share indexes across the globe rallied as the US central bank raised the federal funds rate by a quarter of a percentage point to a range of 0.25 per cent to 0.5 per cent. Rates are now off the historic low they have been at since December 2008, investors will now focus on the pace and path of future moves.
The Fed said it expected “gradual increases” in the federal funds rate in the wake of Wednesday’s move.
The US dollar was stronger against a number of key crosses during Asian trade, with the euro 0.6 per cent weaker at $1.0843, Japan’s yen 0.3 per cent softer at Y122.51 per dollar and the British pound 0.5 per cent weaker at $1.4946.
Asian equities followed Wall Street higher, with Japan’s Nikkei up 2 per cent and Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 settled 1.5 per cent higher. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng up 1 per cent while China’s Shanghai Composite was 1.5 per cent higher. Wall Street gained more than 1 per cent on Wednesday. European equities look set to climb this morning.
Free Reports:
ForexTime Ltd (FXTM) is an award winning international online forex broker regulated by CySEC 185/12 www.forextime.com