In the latest development, the Federal Reserve reduced its interest rates by 50 basis points, bringing them to a range of 4.75% to 5%. Later, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority followed suit and reduced its interest rate by 50 basis points to 5.25%. The tax cuts led to a rally of gains across the Asian market, with Japan and Hong Kong leading the gain.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 index gained by 2.13% to reach 37,155.33, while the broad-based Topix increased to 2,616.87, registering a growth of 2.01%. Moreover, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index gained 2.17% in the final hour of trading. Meanwhile, mainland China’s CSI 300 increased by 0.8%, closing at 3,196.36, with real estate stocks leading the way, up more than 3%. In South Korea, the blue-chip Kospi rose 0.21% to 2,580.8, while the small-cap Kosdaq grew by 0.86% to 739.15.
Taiwan’s weighted Index climbed 1.68%, closing at 22,042.69. According to CNBC, Taiwan’s central bank is set to announce a key rate decision on Thursday, along with revised forecasts for economic growth and inflation for this year.
However, the contrary is true for US markets, as all the major indexes witnessed a slight decline right after Fed declared the rate cuts. Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 0.25% to 41,503.1, the S&P 500 slipped by 0.29% to close at 5,618.26, and the Nasdaq Composite decreased by 0.31% to 17,573.3.
