Asian stock markets followed Wall Street higher Friday after a Federal Reserve official raised hopes the U.S. central bank might not step up its anti-inflation fight as much as feared.
Shanghai, Tokyo, Hong Kong and Sydney advanced. Oil prices retreated. Wall Street rose Wednesday for the first time in three days after the president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, Raphael Bostic, expressed support for raising the Fed’s benchmark lending rate to a range of 5% to 5.25% — less than many investors are forecasting.
Bostic said the Fed might be able to suspend additional rate increases by mid-year, sooner than some expect, reports AP.
Stocks advanced following those “dovish comments,” said Anderson Alves of ActivTrades in a report.
In energy markets, benchmark U.S. crude lost 27 cents to $77.89 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
The contract rose 47 cents on Thursday to $78.16. Brent crude, the price basis for international oil trading, shed 28 cents to $84.47 per barrel in London. It gained 44 cents the previous session to $84.75.
The dollar declined to 136.59 yen from Thursday’s 136.76 yen. The euro gained to $1.0608 from $1.0590.
Source: Bahrain news Gazette