Brookfield Asset Management declined 1.2 per cent to $44.12.
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The US Federal Reserve officials were divided over when to raise interest rates again in July’s policy meeting as they held different views about US inflation outlook, showed minutes of the Fed’s latest monetary policy meeting released on Wednesday.
The minutes came a day after New York Fed President William Dudley said “it’s possible” to raise rates at the September 20-21 policy meeting and Atlanta Fed President Dennis Lockhart said a hike next month is in play. The dollar was down 0.79 percent against the franc at 0.9538 franc and was down 0.29 percent against the yen at 99.95 yen. Benchmark copper on the London Metal Exchange was up 0.25 per cent at S$4,786 a tonne after losing 0.8 per cent on Wednesday.
ANALYST’S TAKE: “There is clearly strong disagreement within the Fed with regards to the timing of further rate hikes”, Angus Nicholson of IG said in a report.
Key indexes on Wall Street edged up, aided by gains in the energy sector and by big-box retailer Wal-Mart that offset losses in the telecom sector. That’s twice the return for the S&P 500 over the same period.
Crude oil prices rocketed higher for their sixth session in the green as hopes over a production freeze from major oil-producing countries and a draw-down in domestic inventories continued to fuel commodities.
Brent last traded at $50.82 a barrel, up almost 2 percent on the day. BorgWarner Inc. makes 75 percent of its profit from outside the U.S. It’s earnings rose by 12 percent in the previous period and the stock has climbed 17 percent since mid-January.
The FOMC’s next meeting will be held on September 20-21.
The minutes from July’s Federal Open Market Committee, released on Wednesday, showed members of the rate-setting group were generally upbeat about the USA economic outlook but showed a bias against raising interest rates soon.
Two Fed officials were dispatched to communicate the Fed’s willingness to raise interest rates, and unsurprisingly, their comments swung markets.
“Given Dudley’s very hawkish remarks yesterday, the market was positioned for a more hawkish set of minutes”, said Gennadiy Goldberg, an interest-rate strategist at TD Securities.
South Korea’s 10-year bonds rose, with the yield falling two basis points to 1.42%, according to prices from local banks compiled by Bloomberg.
But Tokyo s main index sank as the dollar fell against the safe haven Japanese currency, slumping below 100 yen for the second time this week and hitting Japan s exporters.
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MSCI’s All World index climbed 0.26 percent to head back toward a one-year high, lifted by a 0.47 percent rise in Asian shares, their biggest gain since August 8.
