Asian markets mostly rise as traders bet on end to Fed rate hikes

Most Asian markets rose yesterday on hopes the Federal Reserve’s latest interest rate hike will be its last as data indicates inflation is being brought under control and the US economy is set to avert a recession.
In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 closed up 0.7% to 32,891.16 points; Hong Kong — Hang Seng Index ended up 1.4% to 19,639.11 points and Shanghai — Composite closed down 0.2% to 3,216.67 points yesterday.
The broadly welcomed announcement compounded the upbeat mood on trading floors in Asia fuelled by this week’s pledges of fresh stimulus to boost Chinese growth.
After Wednesday’s keenly awaited meeting, bank boss Jerome Powell left the door open for another increase in September but added that any decision would be data-dependent.
“Policy has not been restrictive enough for long enough to have its full desired effects,” he told reporters after the decision.
“So we intend, again, to keep policy restrictive until we’re confident that inflation is coming down sustainably toward our 2% target — and we’re prepared to further tighten if that is appropriate.” But he added that officials would “be going meeting by meeting”.
In its official statement, the Fed said it would “continue to assess additional information and its implications for monetary policy”, looking at a range of data points.
Analysts said that with a healthy run of indicators in recent months, there was hope that more than a year of tightening may have finally come to an end.
Powell also said he was optimistic that the world’s top economy could dodge a recession, a situation many had bet on earlier in the year. “The staff now has a noticeable slowdown in growth starting later this year in the forecast, but given the resilience of the economy recently, they are no longer forecasting a recession,” he added.
Analysts said the meeting did all it needed to do by maintaining a hawkish tilt even as most observers think the hiking campaign is essentially over.
The latest hike comes after the bank stood pat on rates last month, but Kerry Craig at JP Morgan Asset Management pointed out that several members of the policy board at that meeting foresaw two more hikes in 2023.
“Given this, there would have been little benefit for the Fed conveying anything other than a hawkish lean and commitment to getting inflation back to target in their commentary,” he added.
“By reiterating data dependency ahead of future measures, the Fed wants to increase its optionality as it has the chance to digest two more inflation and jobs reports before the next meeting.” Wall Street provided a tepid lead, though the Dow rose for a 13th-straight day, its best run since 1987, according to Bloomberg News.
Asia enjoyed a strong start, though some markets struggled to maintain momentum.
Hong Kong rose more than 1%, and Tokyo, Sydney, Seoul, Singapore, Taipei and Bangkok were also up. But Shanghai, Mumbai and Jakarta dipped, while Manila and Wellington were barely moved.
London, Frankfurt and Paris were also in the green.
Bets that the Fed will not hike any further also weighed on the dollar against the yen and sterling.
The euro moved in a small range ahead of a policy decision from the European Central Bank later Thursday, with debate swirling around when it will call an end to its own tightening drive.