Asia-Pacific markets broadly advanced Thursday as investors cheered after the U.S. Federal Reserve’s policymaking committee overnight voted to keep short-term borrowing rates near zero in a widely expected move.
The Nikkei 225 leaped 302.42 points, or 1%, to 30,216.75. The Japanese yen changed hands at 109.20 per U.S. dollar, weakening from an earlier level around 108.62.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng galloped 371.6 points, or 1.3%, to 29,405.72.
In Australia, where indexes plunged, the energy and materials sub-indexes earlier recovered from losses in the previous session but were unable to hold on to most of the gains, energy nicking up by 0.04% and materials edging but 0.1%.
The Australian dollar rose 0.12% to $0.7803.
The Fed ramped up its expectations for economic growth but indicated that there are likely to be no interest rate hikes through 2023.
Chairman Jerome Powell said he expects inflation will rise this year due in part to soft year-over-year comparisons from the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. However, he said that won’t be enough to change policy that seeks inflation above 2% for a period of time, if it helps to achieve full and inclusive employment.
In other markets
In China, the CSI 300 took on 40.91 points, or 0.8%, to 5,141.77.
In Taiwan, the Taiex regained 72.02 points, or 0.4%, to 16,287.84.
In Korea, the Kospi index vaulted 18.51 points, or 0.6%, to 3,066.01.
In Singapore, the Straits Times index moved ahead 28.01 points, or 0.9%, to 3,137.66.
In New Zealand, the NZX 50 subtracted 126.06 points, or 1%, to 12,496.15
In Australia, the ASX 200 dumped 49.32 points, or 0.7%, to 6,745.91.
