· The S&P 500 ended marginally higher on Wednesday after Federal Reserve policymakers cut interest rates by a quarter of a percentage point, as expected, but gave mixed signals about their next move.
With continued economic growth and strong hiring “the most likely outcomes,” the Fed nevertheless cited “uncertainties” about the outlook and pledged to “act as appropriate” to sustain the expansion.
New projections showed policymakers at the median expected rates to stay within the new range through 2020, bad news for investors hoping for additional cuts to help blunt global economic fallout from the U.S.-China trade war.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI rose 0.13% to end at 27,147.08 points, while the S&P 500 .SPX gained 0.03% to 3,006.73.
The Nasdaq Composite .IXIC dropped 0.11% to 8,177.39.
Expectations of lower rates have supported Wall Street's rally this year, with the benchmark S&P 500 .SPX up almost 20% year to date and about 1% below its record high close in July.
· Stocks in Asia edged higher in Thursday morning trade after the U.S. Federal Reserve cut interest rates overnight but appeared divided on its next course of action for the year.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 rose 0.82%, with shares of index heavyweight Fast Retailing jumping 1.55%. The Topix index also added 0.74%.
Over in South Korea, the Kospi gained 0.52% as shares of Samsung Electronics surged 1.99%. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 also rose 0.42%, with the country’s employment data for August set to be released at 9:30 a.m. HK/SIN.
Overall, the MSCI Asia ex-Japan index edged up 0.06%.
Reference: Reuters, CNBC
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