Asian Stock Market Opens Positive in Response to US Federal Reserve’s Interest Rate Cut

Asian stock markets opened on a positive note today (19 September ⁢2024) after investors evaluated the meeting results of the US Federal Reserve (Fed). The Fed Committee decided to cut interest rates by 0.50% at its meeting yesterday (September 18).

The Nikkei Index of the Tokyo Stock ‍Exchange opened at 36,958.93 points, an increase of 578.76 points or 1.59%. The Hang Seng Index of the ⁤Hong Kong Stock Exchange opened at 17,633.93 points, a decrease of 26.09 points or 0.14%.‍ Meanwhile, the Composite Stock⁤ Market Index ‍ of Shanghai, China, opened at 2,723.21 points, an increase of ​5.93 ‌points or 0.22%.

The KOSPI index of the South Korean stock market opened 0.57% higher, while the S&P/ASX 200 index of the⁢ Australian stock market opened 0.15% higher.

The Fed Board decided to reduce short-term​ interest rates by 0.50% to 4.75-5.00% at yesterday’s meeting. This is the first interest rate⁣ cut in ‍more than 4 years⁣ or since 2020. In terms of​ the⁢ policy interest rate ⁢forecast or Dot Plot, Fed officials signaled a further 0.50% interest rate cut by the end of this year.

Investors are keeping a close eye on Malaysia’s August trade data release and Australia’s unemployment rate, both ⁢of which are scheduled to be ⁢released today.

A ‌two-day monetary policy meeting of the Bank of Japan (BOJ) will conclude tomorrow‌ (September 20), where the BOJ committee will decide on interest rates. This⁤ meeting ‍is ​significant, as the BOJ recently ended its policy of low interest rates that had ⁣been in place for decades.