April 7 (Reuters) – Asian stocks are poised for cautious gains on Wall Street on Thursday, minutes after the last Federal Reserve meeting reiterated its commitment to keep interest rates low until the US economy recovers more safe.
The S&P 500 and Dow closed slightly lower on Wednesday, as the Fed’s comment boosted investors’ expectations that the central bank intends to maintain its political support, despite massive fiscal spending from the recent government stimulus package.
“Investors remain intensely focused on interest rates,” said Jeff Buchbinder, a stock strategist at LPL Financial in Boston. “We in the market did not expect any sign of a policy change and that is what we have achieved.”
Australian S & P / ASX 200 futures rose 0.52% in early trading, while Japanese Nikkei 225 futures added 0.03%.
U.S. Federal Reserve officials have expressed caution about the continuing risks of the pandemic and reaffirmed their commitment to supporting the economy, given that “the way forward remains extremely uncertain,” the minutes said. at the meeting of March 16-17.
The yield on the US Treasury’s 10-year benchmark rose later in the session, but remained below a 14-month high of 1.776% on March 30. as the best performing sectors of the day.
“The 10-year yield has not moved much today and the rate seems to be set in a slightly shorter range, which coincides with the better performance of growing stocks, especially technology,” Buchbinder said.
On Wall Street, the Dow Jones industrial average rose 0.05% to 33,446.26, the S&P 500 gained 0.15% to 4,079.95, and the Nasdaq Composite fell 0.07% to 13,688.84.
After the Fed minutes were released, 10-year benchmark banknotes fell 4/32 in price to 1.6686%, down from 1.656% late Tuesday.
“We’ve already seen long-term 10-year rates rise, and the Fed tells us they won’t move, so interest rates could remain at their lowest levels until 2022, when they come in,” Jeff Carbone said. general partner at Cornerstone Wealth Group in Charlotte. The US dollar advanced against a basket of world currencies after fluctuating much of the session, rising following the launch of the Fed minutes.
The dollar index rose 0.148%, with the euro falling 0.02% to $ 1.1868. The Japanese yen was flat against the green dollar at 109.85 per dollar, while the Korean gain strengthened 0.03% against the green dollar at 1,118.71 per dollar.
Gold prices fell as economic optimism shifted investors away from safe havens in favor of riskier assets.
Spot gold fell 0.4 percent to $ 1,737.11 an ounce. In the long run, US gold was down 0.1% at $ 1,741.6.
Crude oil prices have risen on the basis of a growing global economic outlook, but have been kept under control by rising petrol stocks.
US crude oil stood at $ 59.77 a barrel, up 0.74%, while Brent gained 0.67% to $ 63.16 a barrel.
Chibuike Oguh’s report to New York; Montage by Stephen Coates