Asian stocks fell and the dollar advanced on Thursday after the Federal Reserve pledged to keep interest rates low for a long time but stopped short of offering further stimulus to shore up a battered U.S. economy.
Asian Stocks
- European stocks are expected to follow suit, with the futures for the bellwether Euro Stoxx 50 index trading 0.96% lower in early trade.
- MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan lost 1.01%, running out of steam after five straight days of gains.
- Japan’s Nikkei shed 0.63%.
- U.S. S&P 500 futures fell 1.03% in Asia on Thursday following a 0.46% drop in the S&P 500 on Wall Street.
Bonds
- The 10-year U.S. Treasuries yielded 0.677%, a few basis points above its levels before the Fed.
Currency Markets
- The U.S. dollar gained against most other currencies.
- The euro dropped 0.4% to $1.1767.
- The Australian dollar lost 0.4% to $0.7278, having erased earlier gains made after stronger-than-expected local jobs data.
- The Chinese yuan also dropped about 0.35% to 6.7686 per dollar, stepping back from a 16-month high hit on Wednesday.
- The yen was little moved at 104.98 to the dollar having hit a 1-1/2-month high of 104.80 per dollar overnight.
Commodities
- Brent crude dropped 0.99% to $41.80 per barrel while U.S. crude fell 1.2% to $39.68 per barrel.
- Gold also slipped 0.8% to $1,943.8 per ounce.
