But he noted that the Fed also indicated they expect a very slow pace of subsequent hikes, perhaps only two in 2017, less than markets had previously anticipated.
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Masatsugu Asakawa, the ministry’s vice minister for worldwide affairs, made the remarks after an emergency meeting with senior officials of the Bank of Japan and the Financial Services Agency, as the yen firmed against the dollar following policy meetings of the Japanese and US central banks Wednesday.
If Fed officials are right, they will have been at zero or below on their real policy rate for about a decade, and that means whatever is slowing US growth is more like a persistent anchor than a passing headwind.
The Dow Jones industrial average gained 98 points, or 0.5 percent, to 18,392.
United States stocks were in the green on Thursday as traders continued to digest the Federal Reserve’s decision to leave interest rates unchanged.
The S&P 500 rose 14 points, or 0.7 percent, to 2,177.
The dollar fell to its lowest in a week against a basket of major currencies as investors sold the greenback following the Fed’s reduction of longer-term interest rate expectations. AT&T rose 54 cents, or 1.3 percent, to $41.11.
NEW YORK (AP) – U.S. stocks were broadly higher Thursday, helped by a rise in prices for crude oil and other commodities.
Oil climbed after a surprisingly large drop in USA crude inventories emboldened investors ahead of next week’s meeting between OPEC members and Russian Federation to discuss supply.
Banco BPI rose 3.6 percent after Spain’s Caixabank launched a bid for the Portuguese lender and slightly raised its offer price. Murphy Oil rose $1.14, or 4.3 percent, to $27.55 and Transocean rose 51 cents, or 5.6 percent, to $9.65.
Materials companies also gained. In metals, gold climbed $13.30, or 1 percent, to $1,344.70 an ounce, silver rose 33 cents to $20.10 an ounce and copper increased 4 cents to $2.19 a pound.
“As [Wednesday’s] decision showed, when faced with conflicting signals, a committee focused on risk management will be inclined to hold fire”, said Zach Pandl, a senior economist for Goldman Sachs.
Bond prices rose. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note fell to 1.61 percent.
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Japanese policy-makers say they do not have a specific level they have in mind as they try to talk the market out of pushing up the yen, but many traders see 100 to the dollar as authorities’ line in the sand.
