The US Fed hiked interest rates by 25 bps to a target range of 5.25-5.5%, on the expected lines, bringing US benchmark funds rate to the highest level since 2001 to tackle sticky, high inflation.
The Fed chair Jerome Powell also hinted at a possibility of further increases, going ahead.
Analysts now believe that the Fed is on a prolonged ‘hawkish hold’.
Read here: US Fed raises rates by 25 bps to highest level since 2001
In Asia, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority also raised interest rates by 25 basis points to 5.75%.
Asian Markets
Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 0.11% and the Topix gained 0.02%. South Korea’s Kospi rallied 0.47%, while the Kosdaq jumped 0.76%.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index futures were at 19,541 compared to the benchmark’s close of 19,365.14.
In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.56%.
Samsung Electronics reported a 95% plunge in quarterly profit at 669 billion won ($527 million) for the April-June quarter, from 14.1 trillion won a year earlier.
Meanwhile, Gift Nifty was trading higher at 19,853.50, as compared to Nifty’s previous close of 19,778, indicating a positive start for the Indian benchmark index.
Wall Street
US stocks ended on a subdued note on Wednesday after the Fed lifted interest rates to their highest level in more than 22 years.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 82.05 points, or 0.23%, to 35,520.12. The index rose for 13 straight days, marking its longest winning streak since 1987.
The S&P 500 eased 0.71 points, or 0.02%, to 4,566.75, while the Nasdaq Composite dropped 17.27 points, or 0.12%, at 14,127.28.
Among stocks, Microsoft shares fell 3.72%, while Google-parent Alphabet soared 5.78% after its second quarter profit exceeded analysts expectations.
Meta Platforms gained 1.39% after Alibaba’s cloud unit said it would support the Facebook owner’s open-source AI model Llama.
Snap tanked 14.23% after it gave a weaker-than-expected third-quarter forecast, while Union Pacific rallied 10.42% and Wells Fargo rose 2.11%.
Europe
European shares snapped a six-day winning streak on Wednesday. The pan-European STOXX 600 index shed 0.5%.
Britain’s FTSE 100 fell 0.2% to 7,676.89, while Germany’s DAX lost 0.5% to 16,131.46. France’s CAC 40 shed 1.4% at 7,315.07.
Shares of luxury firm LVMH fell 5.2%, while Kering and Hermes dropped 1.8% and 2.4%, respectively. Christian Dior also lost 4%.
Energy
Crude oil prices traded higher. Brent crude futures rose 0.13% to $83.03 a barrel, while US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude gained 0.27% to $78.99.
Currencies
The dollar edged lower against major currencies on Wednesday. The dollar index fell 0.316%, with the euro up 0.33% to $1.109.
Bullion
Gold prices extended gains on Wednesday, helped by a weaker dollar and bond yields after the US Fed delivered a widely expected interest-rate hike.
Spot gold was up 0.5% at $1,974.09 per ounce, while US gold futures settled 0.3% higher at $1,970.10.
(With inputs from Reuters)
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Updated: 27 Jul 2023, 06:58 AM IST