TOKYO (AP) โ Global benchmarks mostly rose Thursday after U.S. stocks rose to records following indications from the Federal Reserve that it expects to implement interest rate cuts later this year.
France's CAC 40 rose 0.5% in morning trading to 8,199.57, while Germany's DAX rose 0.8% to 18,159.77. Britain's FTSE 100 rose almost 1.2% to 7,829.19. US stocks were expected to rise with Dow futures rising 0.4% to 40,081.00. S&P 500 futures rose 0.4% to 5,309.50.
Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 index jumped 2.0% to finish at a record high of 40,815.66 after the government reported exports grew nearly 8% in February from a year earlier, in the third straight month of increase.
Shipments of automobiles and electrical machinery are increasing, helping to reduce the trade deficit to about half of what it was a year earlier, 379 billion yen ($2.5 billion).
Hong Kong's benchmark index rose 1.9% to 16,863.10, while the Shanghai Composite fell less than 0.1% to 3,077.11, after the Chinese government announced new measures to support the economy .
The S&P/ASX 200 in Sydney added 1.1% to 7,782.00 points. South Korea's Kospi gained 2.4% to 2,754.86.
On Wednesday, the S&P 500 jumped 0.9% to 5,224.62, an all-time high for the second day in a row. The Dow industrials rose 1% and the Nasdaq composite rose 1.3%.
The Federal Reserve's survey of its policymakers showed that the central bank still expects to make three interest rate cuts in 2024. That's the same number they had forecast three months earlier, and expectations about the relief such cuts would provide They are a big reason why US stock prices have set records.
The Federal Reserve has been keeping its main interest rate at its highest level since 2001 to reduce inflation. High rates slow down the overall economy by making borrowing more expensive and hurting investment prices.
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said he had noted the past two months' worse-than-expected reports, but they "haven't really changed the overall story, which is of inflation gradually declining on a path." sometimes bumpy towards 2%. That story has not changed.โ
In other trading early Thursday, benchmark U.S. crude rose 40 cents to $81.67 a barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, added 41 cents to $86.36 a barrel.
The US dollar rose to 151.34 Japanese yen from 151.26 yen. The euro cost $1.0892, down from $1.0925.
