Global stocks unsettled after US Fed holds rates

by Andrew Jay Rosenbaum

ANKARA

Global stock markets saw choppy trading after the U.S. Federal Reserve held key interest rates late on Wednesday.

Most shares in Asia were little-changed, as traders worried about when the next Fed rate hike might take place. The Fed late on Wednesday held its key Federal Funds rate in the range of 0.25 to 0.50 percent.

Futures on Borsa Istanbul pointed to a slight increase at the open on Thursday. The Turkish lira was up slightly to about 3 to the dollar after the announcement.

Analysts pointed out that the Fed has traders confused.

“The Fed is on dovish,” explained James Glassman, senior economist at JPMorgan Chase in New York, in a note published on Wednesday. But he insisted that the central bank could not continue to ignore the improvement in the U.S. economy.

“Up to the middle of last year, the FED has been a dove to the core. But with economic headwinds globally they can't be excessively dovish. They need to re-assure markets that the recovery is gaining ground,” commented Bora Tamer Yilmaz, an economist with Ziraat Securities in Istanbul, wrote in a note published on Thursday.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index rose a slight 0.3 percent, and Australia’s ASX 200 was up 0.5 percent.

Japan’s benchmark Nikkei index moved a slight 0.2 percent higher, and South Korea’s Kospi improved 0.2 percent.

But stocks in China continued their week-long decline, with the Shanghai Composite Index down 0.5 percent, falling to its lowest levels since December 2014.

European futures pointed to flat opens on Thursday.

In the U.S., the S&P 500 dropped 1.1 percent at the closing on Wednesday after the Fed’s announcement. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed down 1.4 percent.