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Hong Kong, China — Most equity markets rose Thursday after the Federal Reserve flagged a possible interest rate cut next month, but Tokyo’s Nikkei tumbled on a stronger yen following a hike by the Bank of Japan.
US central bank boss Jerome Powell said decision-makers were increasingly confident inflation and the economy were at a point where they could start loosening monetary policy.
After a highly anticipated two-day meeting where borrowing costs were kept at 23-year highs as expected, he told reporters the first reduction could come “as soon as” September if data continued to improve.
“The broad sense of the committee is that the economy is moving closer to the point at which it will be appropriate to reduce our policy rate,” he said, adding there had been a “really significant decline in inflation.
