• In Dow Jones news today, the Dow added 74 points despite news that Democrats in the U.S. House Financial Services Committee are seeking internal reviews of President Trump's accounts from Deutsche Bank.
The U.S. Federal Reserve generated headlines today with the release of the minutes from its most recent monetary policy meeting. The Fed set a schedule in the months ahead to begin winding down its $4.5 trillion balance sheet. The central bank also said that it will tie future rate hikes to the nation's economic rebound in the months ahead. That puts a lot of focus on Friday's latest update on Q1 GDP. With the job market improving and inflation moving toward the Fed's 2% target, it's very likely that interest rates are going up in June 2017. Yesterday, we broke down the impact of a June 2017 interest rate hike. Read this important insight, right here.
• Asian shares eked out modest gains on Thursday while the dollar and U.S. bond yields slipped after the U.S. Federal Reserve signalled a cautious approach to future rate hikes and the reduction of its $4.5 trillion of bond holdings.
• MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS advanced 0.3 percent, with South Korea leading with a 0.4 percent rise. .KS11.
• Japan's Nikkei .N225 dipped 0.1 percent though MSCI Japan rose 0.4 percent in dollar terms .MIJP00000PUS.
Reference: Reuters, Money Morning
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