Asian markets gained in early trading Thursday, after the U.S. Federal Reserve kept interest rates unchanged but indicated it is ready to make ease monetary policy if needed.
The Fed said it will “closely monitor” the economy given increasing uncertainty about government policy, though it signaled it may not need to lower rates before 2020. But Chairman Jerome Powell indicated that the central bank is prepared to cut interest rates if necessary.
There was also encouraging news on the trade front, as U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer said he plans to meet his Chinese counterpart ahead of the G-20 summit next week. “When actual negotiations begin again, I can’t say at this point,” Lighthizer said. “We’re talking. We’re going to meet.” The U.S. and China broke off trade negotiations in early May and have not met since.
Japan’s Nikkei
NIK, +0.68%
rose 0.6% and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index
HSI, +1.01%
gained 0.9%. The Shanghai Composite
SHCOMP, +2.58%
surged 2% while the smaller-cap Shenzhen Composite
399106, +2.15%
advanced 1.6%. South Korea’s Kospi
180721, +0.18%
was about flat, while benchmark indexes in Taiwan
Y9999, -0.02%
, Singapore
STI, +0.79%
and Indonesia
JAKIDX, -0.11%
were mixed. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200
XJO, +0.33%
rose 0.2%.
Among individual stocks, Uniqlo parent Fast Retailing
9983, +1.59%
rose in Tokyo trading, along with Sony
6758, +0.85%
and e-commerce company Rakuten
4755, +1.98%
. In Hong Kong, Geely Automobile
175, +4.87%
, parent of Volvo Cars, gained after announcing a deal with Sweden’s Zenuity to supply it with self-driving software. China Life Insurance
2628, +3.30%
and Tencent
700, +1.61%
also rose. Samsung
005930, +0.11%
inched down in South Korea and Foxconn
2354, +2.58%
advanced in Taiwan. Rio Tinto
RIO, -4.05%
sank in Australia, while Beach Energy
BPT, +2.04%
gained.
Source : MTV
