Stock Market Live Updates: Asian shares rise; Fed says big rate hikes will be rare

Asian shares rise as Fed says big rate hikes rare

Stocks and US equity futures climbed Thursday, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said, adding that a hike in super-sized interest rates would be rare after the central bank’s biggest rise in borrowing costs since 1994.

An Asian stock gauge led by Japan rose nearly 1%, while Hong Kong and China were up. US contracts edged up about 0.5% in the wake of a Wall Street rally that rallied a five-day, 10% rout in the S&P 500.

Intensifying the fight against inflation, the Fed raised rates by 75 basis points on Wednesday. Powell signaled another large increase in July, but he added, “Today’s 75 basis-point increase is unusually large and I don’t expect a move of this size to be normal.” It leans against the risk of a string of jumbo moves.

S&P 500 futures rose 0.6% and Nasdaq 100 futures rose 0.7%. Nasdaq 100 up 2.5%

Japan’s Topix index rose 1.6%, Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 index rose 0.5%, South Korea’s Kospi index rose 1.6%, while the Hang Seng index dropped 0.3% and the Shanghai Composite index dropped 0.1%.

Wall Street stocks rose overnight after the Federal Reserve’s sharpest hike in interest rates since 1994, and later after assurances that such mega-hikes would not be common.