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USA stocks waver narrowly after Fed minutes

However, the Fed did not set a date for a interest rate hike at the meeting, as is routine.

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It is expected that the U.S. central bank will increase interest rates this year, however there is still speculation as to when and if this rate change will be imposed.

MSCI’s 46-country All World index climbed 0.2 per cent to head back towards a one-year high, hauled higher by a 0.5 per cent rise in Asian shares, their biggest rise since August 8.

US gold climbed 0.6 percent to $1,356.70 an ounce. Australian shares added 0.2 percent, heading for a 0.2 percent decline for the week.

In term of recent economic data release, the United States initial jobless claims for the week ending 12 August 2016 came at 262k, lower than the expectations of 265k, from 266k in the previous week, highlighting the USA job market remains healthy.

Fed speakers on Thursday include San Francisco Fed President John Williams, Dallas Fed President Robert Kaplan, and New York Fed President William Dudley.

New York Fed President William Dudley and Atlanta Fed chief Dennis Lockhart both said on Tuesday that the United States central bank could raise rates at its September policy meeting.

Williams is seen as a close ally of Chairwoman Janet Yellen, who will speak next week.

Strong recent USA jobs growth and a long-awaited return of middle-wage employment are two positive signs for the United States labour market, an influential Federal Reserve policymaker said on Thursday, reinforcing his positive message on the broader economy.

It is still on track to lose 1.1% on the week.

The figure for May was revised to 24,000 from 11,000 and the June figure was revised to 292,000 from 287,000.

– The dollar index extended lower in the early hours to reach 94.38 and it was last at 94.45.

Oil prices have surged this week on expectations of revived talks by key exporters to freeze output levels.

The Fed raised its target range for the federal funds rate by 25 basis points to 0.25-0.5 percent in December, the first rate hike in almost a decade.

Global benchmark Brent crude LCOc1 pulled back 0.1 percent to $50.84, after climbing as much as 2.4 percent to an eight-week high of $51.05 on Thursday.

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Traders see an 18 percent chance of a hike in September, up from 9 percent before Dudley’s Tuesday comments, while the bets jumped to 45.5 percent from 37.4 percent for December, according to the CME Group’s FedWatch tool.

Interest rate hike could soon be warranted, Fed officials say