WORLD FINANCIAL MARKETS
LONDON—Global stocks pushed higher Thursday in the wake of relatively dovish comments from the U.S. Federal Reserve that accompanied another rate hike and amid relief over the Dutch election result.
KEEPING SCORE: In Europe, Germany’s DAX was up 0.6 percent at 12,082 while France’s CAC-40 rose 0.5 percent to 5,009. London’s FTSE 100 gained 0.6 percent to 7,410. Wall Street was poised for modest gains at the open with Dow futures and the broader S&P 500 futures up 0.1 percent.
U.S. RATE HIKE: The Fed raised shortterm interest rates by a quarter of a percentage point, its third such move since late 2015. The move was widely expected. The central bank stressed that it plans to move gradually and stuck to its projection that it will raise rates a total of three times this year. That cooled speculation among some investors that the Fed could move more aggressively.
DUTCH ELECTIONS: Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte’s party won a parliamentary election victory over anti-Islam lawmaker Geert Wilders in the year’s first test for populism in Europe. Following Britain’s vote to leave the European Union and Donald Trump’s election as U.S. president, “the Netherlands said, ‘Whoa!’ to the wrong kind of populism,” said Rutte. Wilders campaigned on pledges to close borders to migrants from Muslim nations, close mosques, ban the Quran and take the Netherlands out of the EU. ASIA’S DAY: Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 index advanced 0.1 percent to 19,590.14 and the Shanghai Composite Index gained 0.8 percent to 3,268.94. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng added 2.1 percent to 24,288.28 and Seoul’s Kospi rose 0.8 percent to 2,150.08. India’s Sensex climbed
0.5 percent to 29,541.64 and benchmarks in New Zealand, Taiwan and Singapore also rose. Sydney’s S&P-ASX 200 gained 0.2 percent to 5,785.80.
CHINA FOLLOWS THE FED: China’s central bank raised a short-term interest rate on lending to banks but left its benchmark rate unchanged following the U.S. increase. The People’s Bank of China hiked the rate for its six-month and one-year medium-term lending facility and open-market repurchase operations by 0.1 percent. The benchmark one-year commercial lending rate was unchanged. The bank cited the U.S. Federal Reserve’s Wednesday rate hike and improved Chinese economic conditions. HONG KONG FOLLOWS THE FED TOO:
Hong Kong’s central bank copied the Fed by raising its benchmark lending rate by one-quarter point to 1.25 percent. The Hong Kong currency is pegged to the dollar, which means the Hong Kong Monetary Authority copies U.S. monetary policy.
JAPAN STANDS PAT: Japan’s central bank held monetary policy steady as the Fed and Europe’s central bank move toward tightening. The Bank of left its benchmark lending rate unchanged at minus 0.1 percent and said it would work toward a 2 percent inflation rate target. The central bank is buying about 80 trillion yen ($700 billion) a year of Japanese government bonds to inject cash into the economy. The BOJ said the world’s third-largest economy was on a “moderate recovery trend.”
ENERGY: Benchmark U.S. crude rose 35 cents to $49.21 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude, used to price international oils, added 34 cents to $52.15.