Hong Kong (AFP) – Equities wavered in Asia on Thursday after the Federal Reserve lowered interest rates but left investors wondering how many more cuts were in the pipeline, despite boss Jerome Powell warning about the struggling jobs market. On the heels of recent economic reports showing weaker job growth, the US central bank said it would lower borrowing costs 25 basis points, its first reduction since December. The 11-1 decision to cut — US President Donald Trump’s appointee Stephen Miran voted for a 50-point cut — came even as inflation runs well above policymakers’ two percent target, but analysts said the main focus was on jobs.
In its post-meeting statement, the Fed said “downside risks to employment have risen” and inflation has picked up and “remains somewhat elevated.” Powell said in a news conference that the passthrough of tariffs to consumers had been slower and smaller than expected. “Labor demand has softened, and the recent pace of job creation appears to be running below the break-even rate needed to hold the unemployment rate constant,” he told reporters. The bank’s closely watched forecast for future rates showed some division on the path forward, with a narrow majority of the 19 officials assessing the outlook eyeing two more cuts, but seven projecting none. Powell remained cagey, saying decision-makers were approaching it “meeting by meeting.”
Michael Pearce of Oxford Economics said the figures showed a “stark divide” that was “unusual” and that the October move could depend on jobs figures. US markets ended on a tepid note, with the Dow up but S&P 500 and Nasdaq down. Asian investors were also cautious. Tokyo closed in the green as the Fed decision boosted the dollar against the yen and other currencies, helping Japanese exporters, while Shanghai initially swung in and out of positivity, but ultimately retreated by day’s end. Hong Kong was down as well. Seoul closed at a record high, fueled by a tech stock surge led by Samsung Electronics and chipmaker SK Hynix, which soared nearly six percent, following reports that China banned its tech firms from purchasing Nvidia chips.
Taipei and Manila rose, while there were losses in Jakarta, Sydney, Singapore, and Wellington. London, Paris, and Frankfurt opened on the front foot. “The selloff in rates markets after the presser suggests that investors were looking for Powell to lean more decisively toward the employment mandate,” said economists at Bank of America. “We stick with our view that the Fed will cut only once more this year, in December. However, after Powell’s comment that (the) rate cut ‘isn’t just one action’, the risk has risen that the second cut will be pulled forward to October (with potentially a third cut in December).”
Jack McIntyre at Brandywine Global, part of Franklin Templeton, said the Fed is “putting more emphasis on the softening in the labour market.” “It makes sense that more rate cuts are expected as monetary policy works with a lag and labour market statistics are a lagging economic indicator. The weakening labour market will have a deleterious impact on inflation, so the Fed is willing to wait out sticky inflation.” The split in the Fed outlook “probably means more volatility in financial markets next year,” he added. Gold prices held losses around $3,660, having spiked Wednesday at a record above $3,707.
In company news, Chinese chip firms surged after the Financial Times reported that China’s internet regulator had instructed firms including Alibaba and ByteDance to terminate orders for Nvidia’s RTX Pro 6000D chips. The state-of-the-art processors are made especially for the country.
– Key figures at around 0715 GMT –
Tokyo – Nikkei 225: UP 1.1 percent at 45,303.43 (close)
Shanghai – Composite: DOWN 1.1 percent at 3,831.66 (close)
Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: DOWN 1.5 percent at 26,499.32
London – FTSE 100: UP 0.3 percent at 9,232.16
Euro/dollar: UP at $1.1818 from $1.1811 on Wednesday
Pound/dollar: DOWN at $1.3617 from $1.3626
Dollar/yen: UP at 147.18 yen from 147.00 yen
Euro/pound: UP at 86.79 pence from 86.70 pence
West Texas Intermediate: DOWN 0.3 percent at $63.87 per barrel
Brent North Sea Crude: DOWN 0.2 percent at $67.81 per barrel
New York – Dow: UP 0.6 percent at 46,018.32 (close)
© 2024 AFP
