Catenaa, Thursday, May 08, 2025- Asian stocks rose moderately on Thursday after the US Federal Reserve kept its interest rates unchanged as expected by the market and Wall Street finishing high.
Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 edged up 0.5% in afternoon trading, Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 added 0.24%, South Korea’s Kospi rose 0.5%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng surged 0.7% and the Shanghai Composite gained 0.2%.
On Wednesday, the Fed committee voted unanimously to maintain the benchmark interest rate in the range of 4.25% to 4.5%, and said The Committee is strongly committed to supporting maximum employment and returning inflation to its 2% objective.
Fed Chair Jerome Powell in his afternoon press conference made it clear the central bank would take its time in the months ahead, saying the Fed does not “need to be in a hurry” as it evaluates how Trump’s tariffs will affect employment and inflation and whether talks with America’s largest trading partners change the outlook.
“I don’t think we can say which way this will shake out,” he said.
However, the Fed Chair made it clear he is concerned about the effect Trump’s tariffs could have: “My gut tells me that uncertainty for the path of the economy is extremely elevated.”
On Wall Street, the S&P 500 gained 0.4% on Wednesday, coming off a two-day losing streak that had snapped its nine-day winning run. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.7%, and the Nasdaq composite rose 0.3%.
Further, Fed officials said that “risks of higher unemployment and inflation have risen,” but that at the moment policymakers view the job market as “solid,” noting that the unemployment rate has stabilized at a low level in recent months.
