After better-than-expected inflation data late last week, however, about 60 percent of investors see the Fed lifting rates in December.
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Long-term euro zone bond yields rose and curves steepened on Wednesday after the Bank of Japan set a long-term rate target and “curve controls” in a move seen as a shift away from money-printing.
“If, for instance, the BOJ only need to buy, say ¥40 trillion a year to hold the zero target for 10-year yields that would clearly appear to imply tighter monetary policy, not looser policy”, Barrow said.
The central bank signaled Wednesday that it still anticipates a rate increase before year-end, with forecasts showing that 10 of 17 officials expected by December to raise the benchmark federal-funds rate by a quarter percentage point.
Oil prices rose 1.5 per cent, spurred by a surprise drop in United States crude inventories and a strike by oil workers in Norway which could affect output.
Wall Street was higher on Wednesday morning, boosted by gains in technology and energy stocks, ahead of the Federal Reserve’s decision later in the day.
The central bank raised interest rates for the first time in almost a decade last December but weak economic data and global uncertainty have prevented it from raising the rates further.
Spot gold was up 0.7 percent at $1,323.99 an ounce by 1200 GMT while USA gold futures climbed 0.7 percent to $1,327.20 an ounce.
Asia’s strong gains follow a surge of 1.1 percent for the S&P 500, 0.9 percent for the Dow Jones industrial average and 1.3 percent for the Nasdaq Composite, which closed at a record high.
But copper was moving in the opposite direction – metal for December settlement on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange was last down 0.85 cents or 0.4 percent to $2.1565 per pound.
Nasdaq 100 e-minis were up 21.75 points, or 0.45 percent, on volume of 26,517 contracts. The market is focused on the things that central banks all over the world will be doing today, and this focus is very important for them too. It was widely expected to hike rates several more times this year, has held off as the USA economy sputtered, hobbled by weak global growth and a strong dollar that makes American goods pricier in foreign markets.
Earlier, the BoJ kept its negative interest rate of -0.1% and its quantitative easing programme at 80trn yen a year but said it would aim to keep yields on 10-year government bonds around current levels of 0%.
Adobe Systems rose 4.9 percent to $105.55 in premarket trading after the company reported quarterly revenue that beat market expectations, prompting a host of brokerages to raise price their price targets.
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“Looking ahead, we doubt that the Bank will leave the policy rate unchanged for much longer”, Thieliant said. The dollar fell to 100.44 yen from 101.84 yen. Silver gained 49 cents, or 2.5 percent, to $19.77 an ounce. The Hang Seng of Hong Kong gained 0.6 percent and South Korea’s Kospi rose 0.5 percent.
