Asian Markets Higher After Fed Decision

(RTTNews) - Asian stock markets are trading mostly higher on Thursday, despite the broadly negative cues from global markets overnight, as traders react to the US Fed's widely expected decision to resume hiking interest rates following a pause last month. The Fed decided to raise the target range for the federal funds rate by 25 basis points. Asian Markets closed mostly lower on Wednesday.

In his post-meeting press conference Fed Chair Jerome Powell said it is possible the central bank could raise rates again in September or hold steady, noting the central bank plans to take a meeting by meeting approach.

"The June CPI report was cooler-than-expected, so if that trend continues, the Fed will probably skip in September," said Edward Moya, senior market analyst at OANDA.

CME Group's FedWatch Tool is currently indicating an 80.0 percent chance the Fed will leave rates unchanged following its next meeting scheduled for September 19-20.

Traders also now look ahead to The European Central Bank and the Bank of Japan that scheduled to make their monetary policy announcements on Thursday and Friday, respectively.

The Australian stock market is notably higher on Thursday, extending the gains in the previous three sessions, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 staying above the 7,400 level, despite the mostly negative cues from global markets overnight, with gains in financial and technology stocks partially offset by losses in mining and energy stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 51.60 points or 0.70 percent to 7,453.60, after touching a high of 7,465.90 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 52.80 points or 0.69 percent to 7,670.60. Australian stocks ended significantly higher on Wednesday.

Among major miners, BHP Group is edging down 0.1 percent and Fortescue Metals is down almost 1 percent, while Mineral Resources is flat. Rio Tinto is losing almost 2 percent after reporting that its half-year profit slumped amid weaker commodity prices.

Oil stocks are mixed. Origin Energy and Santos are edging up 0.3 to 0.5 percent each, while Beach energy is losing almost 2 percent and Woodside Energy is edging down 0.3 percent.

In the tech space, Afterpay owner Block is gaining almost 2 percent, WiseTech Global is adding almost 1 percent, Xero is up 1.5 percent, Appen is advancing more than 3 percent and Zip is edging up 0.5 percent.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank, Westpac and National Australia Bank are gaining more than 1 percent each, while ANZ Banking is adding almost 1 percent.

Among gold miners, Evolution Mining and Newcrest Mining are edging up 0.1 to 0.5 percent each, while Gold Road Resources is edging down 0.2 percent and Resolute Mining is losing more than 3 percent. Northern Star Resources is flat. In other news, shares in Regis Resources are plunging more than 13 percent after the gold miner provided a production update. In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.680 on Thursday.

The Japanese stock market is modestly higher in choppy trading on Thursday after opening in the red, snapping a four-session losing streak, with the Nikkei 225 moving above the 32,700 level, despite the broadly negative cues from global markets overnight, with gains in index heavyweights and technology stocks.

Traders also remain cautious ahead of the Bank of Japan's monetary policy on Friday, where it is widely seen maintaining ultra-easy monetary settings.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index closed the morning session at 32,729.47, up 61.13 points or 0.19 percent, after touching a high of 32,757.19 and a low of 32,503.69 earlier. Japanese stocks closed slightly lower on Wednesday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is edging up 0.3 percent and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is gaining 1.5 percent. Among automakers, Toyota and Honda are edging down 0.3 to 0.5 percent each.

In the tech space, Screen Holdings is edging up 0.2 percent and Tokyo Electron is gaining more than 1 percent, while Advantest is declining almost 3 percent.

In the banking sector, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial, Mizuho Financial and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial are edging up 0.3 to 0.5 percent each.

Among the major exporters, Canon and Mitsubishi Electric are losing more than 1 percent each, while Panasonic and Sony are flat.

Among other major gainers, Sharp is gaining almost 5 percent, while BANDAI NAMCO and Tokuyama are adding almost 3 percent each.

Conversely, CyberAgent is plunging almost 12 percent, Nitto Denko is sliding more than 5 percent and Nissan Motor is losing almost 4 percent, while Taisei and Mitsubishi Motors are down more than 3 percent each. In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the higher 139 yen-range on Thursday.

Elsewhere in Asia, Hong Kong is up 1.6 percent, while New Zealand, China, South Korea, Singapore Malaysia, Indonesia and Taiwan are higher by between 0.1 and 0.7 percent each. On Wall Street, stocks saw typically volatility following the Federal Reserve's highly anticipated monetary policy announcement on Wednesday. The major averages showed wild swings before ending the day narrowly mixed.

While the Dow rose 82.05 points or 0.2 percent to 35,520.12, extending its winning streak to 13 sessions, the S&P 500 edged down 0.71 points or less than a tenth of a percent to 4,566.75 and the Nasdaq slipped 17.27 points or 0.1 percent at 14,127.28.

The major European markets also moved to the downside on the day. While the French CAC 40 Index tumbled by 1.4 percent, the German DAX Index slid by 0.5 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index dipped by 0.2 percent.

Crude oil prices fell Wednesday, weighed down by data showing a smaller than expected drop in U.S. crude inventories last week. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for September fell $0.85 or 1.1 percent at $78.78 a barrel.