Hong Kong
Asian equities mostly rose and the dollar was subdued Thursday after the Federal Reserve indicated it was unlikely to change interest rates throughout next year, while the pound was in focus as the UK prepares to vote in a general election. Investors are also tracking developments in the China-US trade talks, with nervousness setting in as a deadline for fresh US tariffs on Chinese goods approaches and no sign yet that they will be delayed. While negotiations between the economic superpowers is the main focus on trading floors, the Fed’s latest policy announcement took the attention Wednesday. The central bank, which has cut borrowing costs three times this year, said after a two-day meeting it would hold them for now and set its sights on low inflation and the global economy. The comments suggest it will stand pat throughout 2020, while Kerry Craig, at JP Morgan Asset Management, said “a sizeable turn in the economic and inflation outlook in either direction will be required for markets to contemplate any sort of move in interest rates”.—AFP
