Asian equity markets rose on Thursday following robust economic data from the U.S. but gains were capped on news that Argentina was unable to secure an agreement with its creditors.
Argentina's debt mediator said the country "will imminently be in default" following two days of discussions between Argentina and hedge funds but the country's finance minister maintains that there is no default situation, reiterating that Buenos Aires has sent its required payments to trustee banks. S&P has already cut the country's credit rating to 'selective default.'
On Wall Street, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq ended higher after U.S. economic growth in the second quarter expanded 4 percent, compared with a 2.1 percent contraction in the previous three months. Meanwhile, the Federal Reserve cut its monthly bond-buying program by another $10 billion and gave an upbeat assessment of the economy at the end of its two-day meeting.
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