Pedestrians pass before a share prices board in Tokyo. Japanese stocks closed up 178.90 points to 16,067.57 yesterday.
AFP/Tokyo
Asian markets mostly rose yesterday while the dollar rallied after the Federal Reserve stuck to its timetable on hiking interest rates but indicated they could rise more sharply than initially envisaged.
The central bank’s statement that its rate would remain low for “some considerable time” fanned a rally on Wall Street, with the Dow ending at a record high.
Tokyo surged 1.13%, or 178.90 points, to 16,067.57 thanks to the weaker yen, but Sony plunged after warning of another huge loss this financial year.
Sydney edged up 0.16%, or 8.5 points, to 5,415.8 and Shanghai gained 0.35%, or 8.04 points, to 2,135.93.
However, Seoul shed 0.72%, or 14.87 points, to close at 2,047.74 while Hong Kong gave up most of Wednesday’s gains, slipping 0.85%, or 207.69 points, to 24,168.72. In other markets, Bangkok rose 0.87%, or 13.59 points, to 1,584.23; Bangkok Bank was unchanged at 211baht, while Siam Cement dropped 2baht, or 0.44%, to 456baht.
Kuala Lumpur’s main index ended flat on Thursday at 1,845.32 points, a gain of 1.54 points, or 0.08%; Banking group AMMB Holdings closed at 6.86 ringgit, a gain of 2.08%, while infrastructure conglomerate YTL added 1.20% to end at 1.68 ringgit.
Singapore closed up 0.02%, or 0.81 points, to 3,297.29; oil rig maker Keppel Corp fell 0.19% to Sg$10.55, while Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp rose 0.72% to Sg$9.79.
Jakarta ended up 0.38%, or 19.96 points, at 5,208.14; miner Aneka Tambang gained 0.44% at 1,145 rupiah, while telecommunication networksand services provider Indosat lost 0.75% at 3,950 rupiah.
Manila rose 0.77%, or 55.45 points, to 7,287.29; top-traded Philippine Long Distance Telephone fell 0.06% to 3,302 pesos, while Globe Telecom was unchanged at 1,888 pesos, SM Prime Holdings gained 3.75% to 17.70 pesos. Taipei rose 0.46%, or 41.86 points, to 9,237.03; Hon Hai climbed 0.99% to Tw$102.0 while Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co was 0.4% higher at Tw$125.0.
Wellington added 0.23%, or 11.84 points, to 5,154.18.
After a closely watched meeting, the Fed said Wednesday it would stick to its steady-as-she-goes policy on interest rates, keeping them at a record low of 0-0.25% despite growing calls for a rise as the economy strengthens.
Markets had been on the watch for a change in its language, which could have signalled a rate hike before the mid-2015 timeline currently in place.
Bank chief Janet Yellen continued with her line that there remains too much slack in the jobs market even as the US unemployment rate has fallen to 6.1%.
“There is relatively little change in the assessment of the outlook by the participants in this meeting,” she said at a news conference. “There is significant under-utilisation of labour resources.” However, it did suggest that when rates eventually increase, they could end next year higher than initially estimated.
Wall Street cheered the prospect of six or more months of easy money. The Dow rose 0.15% to a new record, the S&P 500 gained 0.13% to end just short of its own all-time high and the Nasdaq edged up 0.21%.
And the likelihood of higher interest rates down the line also boosted the dollar.
The news also sent the dollar up against emerging market currencies, with Indonesia’s rupiah, Korea’s won, and the Singapore dollar and Taiwan dollar all suffering.
The British pound was also in focus on the day Scotland holds its independence referendum. While the vote is still too close to call, there are fears that a vote to break away from the United Kingdom will slash around 10% off sterling and hammer the economy.
However, in afternoon exchanges the pound was sitting at $1.6298, compared with $1.6280 in New York, as the “No” camp went into the day marginally ahead in opinion polls.
