Market News

Stocks rose across the world on Wednesday afternoon and Thursday morning after the Federal Reserve Open Market Committee (FOMC) held U.S. interest rates stable yesterday.

The Japanese Yen eased away from earlier lows, pushed there by skeptical investors who are dubious that the latest measures from the Bank of Japan will be sufficient to generate inflation toward the BOJ’s inflation target, now beyond 2%.

Japanese stocks edged higher on Wednesday after the Bank of Japan announced a large-scale overhaul of its current stimulus plan.

The Japanese Yen edged higher versus the US Dollar today as investors’ uncertainty as to the “power” of the Bank of Japan’s collective stimulus efforts take greater hold.

Only two days before the Bank of Japan meeting which will set Japanese economic policy for the immediate future, Japanese President Shinzo Abe defended his aggressive economics policies.

The US Dollar edged away from a recently struck 2-week peak as investors await the outcome of the Federal Reserve Bank policy meeting which is set for later this week.

Trading in the Australian stock market was paused on Monday afternoon and the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) has not provided an indication of when it will resume.

There will be a very busy news schedule this week compared to recent weeks, dominated by key central bank actions concerning the U.S. Dollar, Japanese Yen, and the Australian and New Zealand Dollars.

The US Dollar slipped broadly in Asian trading after the release of the latest economic data from the US lowered expectations of an interest rate increase this year.

The Japanese Yen edged higher against the US Dollar in a flight to save haven currencies after a rout in global equity markets.

Traders are sitting tight this morning as they wait for the Bank of England to announce an expected cut to just a fraction above zero later this year.

The Japanese Yen hit a 1-week trough versus the US Dollar today after the Japanese central bank said that it is considering additional easing measures, which would include yet another negative interest rate cut.

Global markets continued their shakedown on Wednesday with Asian stocks falling to six-week lows on trader concern that central banks won’t be able to sufficiently stimulate economic growth.

The US Dollar recovered some of its previous day’s losses which occurred after one Federal Reserve Bank official cautioned the Fed on removing economic support too quickly.

Fed Governor Lael Brainard’s speech on Monday supported the view that the U.S. Federal Reserve would leave interest rates unchanged next week, a note which helped global markets rebound off their recent lows.