MANILA – Asian markets showed varied performances in Thursday afternoon trading after Wall Street displayed fluctuations between gains and losses, yet managed to stay close to record highs subsequent to the Federal Reserve’s choice to lower its key interest rate.
U.S. futures were up while oil prices were down.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 advanced by 1.3% to 45,362.70, with tech-related stocks such as Disco, Tokyo Electron, and SoftBank leading the gainers. The Bank of Japan embarked on its two-day policy review, with expectations of maintaining steady rates.
South Korea’s Kospi added nearly 1.2% to 3,455.06, with chipmakers SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics among advancers.
Chinese markets, however, declined. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell by 0.2% to 26,856.02, and the Shanghai Composite index saw earlier gains diminish, falling by 0.6% to 3,853.74.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 dropped 0.7% to 8,755.70. Data revealed on Thursday indicated the jobless rate was steady at 4.2% in August, yet headlining employment decreased by 5,400 and full-time positions declined by 40,900.
India’s BSE Sensex was up 0.4%, while Taiwan’s Taiex added 1.1%.
On Wall Street on Wednesday, the S&P 500 edged down by 0.1%, staying close to its peak set earlier this week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average increased by 260 points, or 0.6%, whereas the Nasdaq composite dipped by 0.3%.
The market fluctuations ensued following the Federal Reserve’s rate cut for the first time this year, which was largely anticipated by Wall Street. Of greater significance were the new projections published by Fed officials, outlining future expectations for interest rates.
That indicated the typical member sees the Fed cutting the federal funds rate two more times by the end of this year and once more in 2026.
Stocks initially rose following the release of the projections, which seemed to support Wall Street’s widespread expectation for more cuts to interest rates. Such moves can give the economy a kickstart, and stock prices had already run to records on the bet that several cuts are on the way.
But stocks gave back gains after Fed Chair Jerome Powell stressed that they’re only projections. Conditions could change quickly, and Powell warned against taking the projections as gospel.
What’s making things difficult for the Fed is that the job market is slowing as inflation is remaining stubbornly high. The Fed is in charge of fixing both, but it has only one tool to do that. And helping one by moving interest rates often hurts the other in the short term.
The Fed had been holding rates steady this year because of the threat that U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs will raise prices for all kinds of products. Inflation has so far refused to go back below the Fed’s 2% target, and Fed officials don’t see that happening for a few years.
In other dealings Thursday, benchmark U.S. crude shed 10 cents to $63.95 per barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, also lost 10 cents to $67.85 per barrel.
The U.S. dollar rose to 147.51 Japanese yen from 146.89 yen. The euro slipped to $1.1781 from $1.1818. ___
AP Business Writer Stan Choe in New York contributed to this report.
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