Ahead of the US Federal Reserve (Fed) meeting early tomorrow morning (Thursday), 3 major Wall Street indices displayed an uptrend while oil prices eased in hopes the Ukrainian conflict subsided.
Investors expect the Fed to make its first rate hike in 3 years by 25 basis points, in addition to the continued focus on plans to end the bond -buying program by the central bank.
Wisconsin Plumb Balanced Fund chairman Tom Plumb said the world's main focus is now on the Fed meeting which will be held early Thursday morning at 2.oo am Malaysian time.
As a result, the 10 -year yield benchmark slipped from a 2 -year high of 2.1544% after initially rising 2.169%, the highest since June 2019.
The Dow Jones Industrial average index rose 1.82% at 33,544.34, the S&P 500 hit 2.14% at 4,262.45 and the Nadsaq Composite added 2.92% at 12,948.62.
European stocks, which initially rebounded, suffered a decline as reports from China stated there was an increase in coronavirus cases and new restrictions.
Moreover, the war crisis that still haunts Ukraine despite the peace dialogue and few positive signs, still fails to support the stock rebound in Europe.
The STOXX 600 index lost 0.28% and MSCI’s global stock gauge rose 0.94% while the MSCI Asia Pacific broad index of stocks outside Japan closed 2.73% lower.
As for the commodity market, oil prices fell 6% to a 3-week low after concerns about supply eased as the Ukrainian crisis began to subside and the rise in Covid-19 cases in China prompted a surge in demand.
Brent oil futures plunged 6.5% at $ 99.91 a barrel while US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude fell 6.4% at $ 96.44 a barrel.
The fall in oil prices and the expectation of a rate hike by the Fed made the US dollar against the Euro as well as a number of other major currencies with the dollar index down 0.043% while the Euro rose 0.04% at $ 1.0943.
Gold safe-haven assets fell 1.8% at $ 1,915.48 an ounce while U.S. gold futures were down 1.55% at $ 1,929.30 an ounce.
