Asian shares pulled ahead to fresh 4-1/2-month highs on Thursday after the U.S. Federal Reserve affirmed it would be “patient” on further interest rate rises and as Sino-U.S. trade talks hinted of progress towards a deal in their tariff war.
Asian Shares
- MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan edged up 0.4 percent.
- Australian shares rose 0.8 percent.
- Japan’s Nikkei was down 0.1 percent.
- Hong Kong’s Hang Seng gained nearly 0.4 percent.
- Chinese shares were up 0.3 percent.
- S&P 500 gained 0.15 percent.
- The Nasdaq rose 0.19 percent.
Currency Market
In the currency market aussie jumps and euro held steady. The Aussie initially gained more than half a percent.
- The Aussie was last trading at $0.71595, down 0.05 percent on the day.
- The euro held steady at $1.1345..
- Against the Japanese yen, the dollar was about 0.1 percent lower at 110.80 yen.
- The Chinese yuan strengthened slightly to 6.7074 per dollar
Commodities
In the commodity market, crude prices rose more than 1 percent on Wednesday to their highest in 2019 on hopes that oil markets will balance later this year.
- U.S. crude was last up 0.4 percent, or 21 cents, at $57.37 per barrel.
- Brent was 0.1 percent, or 8 cents, higher at $67.16.
- Gold tacked on 0.1 percent to $1,339.90
