On Thursday, Japan’s stock market reached fresh all-time highs, mirroring a broader uptrend across Asian markets following the Federal Reserve’s decision to maintain its forecast for three rate cuts this year, while keeping rates steady at 5.25%-5.5% during its latest meeting.
The Federal Reserve’s projection of three rate cuts was derived from its “dot plot,” which presents anonymous forecasts from the 19 officials forming the Federal Open Market Committee. However, the chart doesn’t specify the timing of these rate adjustments.
The updated dot plot also signaled three cuts in 2025, one less than the previous update in December.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 surged by 2.03%, closing at 40,815.66, reaching a new all-time high, similarly, the Topix also achieved a record high, rising by 1.64% to close at 2,796.21.
In South Korea, the Kospi soared by 2.41%, closing at 2,754.86, its highest level since April 2022, while the small-cap Kosdaq rose by 1.44% to 904.29.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index closed 1.93% higher at 16,863.10, while mainland China’s CSI 300 ended with a slight decline of 0.12%, closing at 3,581.09.
In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 surged by 1.16%, closing at 7,784.9.
Flash data from Judo Bank revealed that the country’s business activity expanded at a quicker pace in March compared to the previous month, with the composite purchasing managers index standing at 52.4, up from 52.1 in February.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average surged by 1.03% to end at 39,512.13, while the S&P 500 gained 0.89%, closing at 5,224.62, surpassing the 5,200 level for the first time.
The Nasdaq Composite rose by 1.25%, primarily driven by megacap tech stocks.
