Tokyo, Sept. 9 (BNA): Asian indices rose today, Friday, amid cheers from gains on Wall Street, as comments from the Federal Reserve Chairman confirmed to the markets the expected interest rate hike.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 0.4% in morning trading to 28,181.50. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.5% to 6881.30, according to the Associated Press.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng jumped 2.3% to 19,282.70, while the Shanghai Composite added 07% to 3,256.79. Trading in South Korea is closed for a holiday.
China released a slew of economic data, with more expected next week. Interest is high due to the impact of China’s non-proliferation policy on economic activity in the world’s second largest economy.
Investors are also looking to interest rates, as the European Central Bank made its largest-ever increase to fight inflation. The move is in line with the steps taken by the US Federal Reserve and other central banks.
Investors also heard from Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, who reiterated the central bank’s commitment to keep interest rates high for as long as necessary to control inflation. Some market watchers remain skeptical.
Stocks rebounded on Wall Street, keeping major indexes on track for their first weekly gain in four weeks. The S&P 500 rose 26.31 points, or 0.7%, to 4006.18.
The Dow swung from a loss of 259 points to a gain of 193.24 points, to close at 3,744.52. The Nasdaq index increased 70.23 points to 11,862.13 points. Small-cap stocks also rose after the initial decline. The Russell 2000 Index rose 14.90 points, or 0.8%, to 1,846.91.
Stocks have been mostly falling in recent weeks after the Federal Reserve indicated it would not back down anytime soon on raising interest rates to bring down the highest rate of inflation in decades.
The interest rate policies of the Federal Reserve and other central banks, which also have a strong impact on the stock and bond markets, have become a major focus for investors.
The Fed has already raised interest rates four times this year and markets expect it to deliver another massive three-quarter percentage point increase at its next meeting in two weeks.
In energy trading, US crude rose 27 cents to $83.81 a barrel. Brent crude, the international benchmark, rose 44 cents to $89.59 a barrel.
In currency trading, the US dollar fell to 143.64 Japanese yen from 144.09 yen. The euro traded at $1.0071, up from $1.0002.
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