Share Coverage
Send to KindleCategory: Stockmarket / Currency / Money and Monetary Policy / Futures / Markets
Stocks and Australian dollar boosted by Fed rate rise delay
Thursday, 17 Mar 2016 05:44:03 | Thuy Ong
US stocks rose after the Fed revealed that the pace of rate rises was likely to be slower than earlier forecast. (Getty/AFP: Spencer Platt)
The Australian dollar has been given a boost after the US Federal Reserve kept interest rates on hold, and indicated the path to raising rates would be slower than previously expected.
The central bank flagged that US economic activity had been expanding at a moderate pace, and said recent indicators pointed to a strengthening labour market.
However, it said the US continues to face risks from an uncertain global economy.
"The statement also gave a sense of a more dovish tone," said Rodrigo Catril, a currency strategist at NAB.
"Previous comments in relation to balance of risks to the outlook were dropped and instead a new sentence was added noting that 'global economic and financial developments continue to pose risks.'"
The Australian dollar soared to touch a high of 75.6 US cents on the news, it was still trading 1.1 per cent higher at 75.4 US cents around 8:00am (AEDT).
The Australian dollar also rose against most major currencies, buying 84.8 Japanese yen, 53 British pence, 67.3 euro cents and $1.123 New Zealand.
In New York, the Dow Jones Industrial Average finished off the day's highs, adding 0.4 per cent to 17,326.
The Nasdaq gained 0.8 per cent to 4,764, while the S&P 500 climbed 0.6 per cent to 2,027.
Overnight, in London, the FTSE 100 rose 0.6 per cent to 6,175, the German DAX added 0.5 per cent to 9,983, while France's CAC 40 slipped 0.2 per cent to 4,463.
Locally, shares are set to follow overseas markets higher, with the ASX SPI 200 adding 0.7 per cent to 5,162.
On commodities markets, oil prices jumped 4 per cent after major oil producers looked more likely to discuss an output freeze.
West Texas crude soared 5.8 per cent to $US38.46 a barrel.
Spot gold jumped 2.5 per cent to $US1,263 an ounce.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
