Yahoo Finance Asian Markets Gain as Traders Digest Fed Minutes
Investing.com - Asian equities traded higher in morning trade on Thursday as investors digested the minutes from the U.S. Federal Reserve’s January meeting.
China’s Shanghai Composite and the Shenzhen Component were up 0.4% and 0.8% respectively. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index gained 0.7%. Computer maker Lenovo Group (HK:0992) surged about 6% in morning trade after the company announced a return to profit in the third quarter, surpassing market expectations.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 gained 0.4% even after official data showed the country’s Flash Markit/Nikkei Japan Manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) fell to a seasonally adjusted 48.5 in February from a final 50.3 in January, the first contraction since August 2016.
Elsewhere, South Korea’s KOSPI slipped 0.1%. Samsung Electronics Co Ltd (KS:005930) made headlines after the company unveiled its new series of Galaxy smartphones that includes the first consumer-ready foldable mobile phone “Galaxy Fold.”
Down under, Australia’s ASX 200 traded 0.7% higher. The Australian Bureau of Statistics reported on Thursday that a total of 39,100 net new jobs were created in January, beating the market forecasts for a 15,200.
Overnight, U.S. markets closed mostly higher following the release of minutes from the Fed's January meeting.
The central bank highlighted downside risks, including "the possibilities of a sharper-than-expected slowdown in global economic growth, particularly in China and Europe, a rapid waning of fiscal policy stimulus, or a further tightening of financial market conditions."
The Fed also saw balance sheet reduction ending, citing “risks and uncertainties.”
"Almost all participants thought that it would be desirable to announce before too long a plan to stop reducing the Federal Reserve's asset holdings later this year. Such an announcement would provide more certainty about the process for completing the normalisation of the size of the Federal Reserve's balance sheet," the document said.
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