Asian Stock Market: Traces firmer Wall Street after the Fed’s interest rate hike

Markets in the Asian domain are trading strong on Thursday. Asian equities are following the footprints of US markets as the latter performed well after the Federal Reserve (Fed) pushed the interest rates higher by 25 basis points (bps).

At the press time, Japan’s Nikkei 225 surges 3.38%, China A50 jumps 3.58%, Nifty 50 climbs 1.70%, and Hang Seng outperforms with gains of 5.70%

The declaration of the monetary policy by the Fed has improved the sentiment in the market. Risk-perceived assets are trading firmer while the US dollar index (DXY) has tumbled near 98.00. The interest rate hike by the Fed is in line with the market expectations; however, the roadmap of curtailing inflation dictated by the Fed is a bit challenging for the assets in the Asian markets. Fed Chair Jerome Powell has stated that the labor market is rock solid ‘loud and clear, which has injected an adrenaline rush into the Asian equities.

Meanwhile, strong restrictive measures taken by the Chinese administration to corner the spread of Covid-19 have been cheered by the market participants. Moreover, China’s Vice Premier Liu He has signaled more stimulus to support markets. This has brought a resurgence in the optimism for the Chinese markets.

Apart from that, Russia and Ukraine are progressing positively towards a ceasefire.  The nations have drafted a tentative 15-point peace plan, which consists ceasefire clause and withdrawal of Russian rebels from Ukraine.