The FED: US Federal Reserve, Washington DC
Uschools | E+ | Getty Images
Asia-Pacific markets are set to rise after the U.S. Federal Reserve held off on a rate hike while projecting that another two quarter percentage point moves are on the way before the end of the year.
The latest decision left the Fed’s key borrowing rate in a target range of 5%-5.25%.The central bank forecast it will raise interest rates as high as 5.6% before 2023 is over.
In Asia, New Zealand fell into a technical recession after its first quarter gross domestic product fell 0.1% year on year, after reporting a revised 0.7% decline in the final quarter of 2022.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 is poised to reach new year-highs, with the futures contract in Chicago at 33,680, and its counterpart in Osaka at 33,600 against its last close at 33,502.42. Japan’s May trade balance will be released later today as the Bank of Japan kicks off its two-day monetary policy meeting.
China will release a slew of economic data, including industrial output, retail sales and house prices for May. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index is set for a rebound after snapping a five day winning streak, with futures at 19,692 compared to the HSI’s close of 19,408.42.
In Australia, futures for the S&P/ASX 200 were at 7,190, higher than the index’s last close of 7,161.7, ahead of its unemployment figures for May. Economists polled by Reuters expect the country’s unemployment rate to hold steady at 3.7%.
Overnight in the U.S., the three major indexes ended mixed after the Fed announcement, with the S&P 500 inching up 0.08% and the Nasdaq Composite climbing 0.39%. In contrast, The Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 0.68%.
— CNBC’s Brian Evans and Alex Harring contributed to this report
