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Some Asia-Pacific markets remained closed for the Lunar New Year
holiday.
Investors remain uncertain over the outlook for the U.S. economy
and over what’s ahead from the administration of President
Donald Trump.
France's CAC 40 gained 0.3% in early trading to 7,898.63, while
Germany's DAX edged up 0.3% to 21,702.91. Britain's FTSE 100
added 0.2% to 8,572.78. U.S. shares were set to drift higher
with Dow futures up 0.4% at 45,053.00. S&P 500 futures rose 0.5%
to 6,097.00.
In Asia, Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 rose 0.3% to finish at
39,513.97. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.6% to 8,493.70.
SoftBank Group's stock dipped 1.1% after reports it was in talks
to invest in OpenAI, while Nissan Motor's shares finished 1.4%
higher after the Japanese automaker confirmed plans to reduce
production in the U.S.
The Fed’s latest decision could hint at rates staying on hold
for a while following their swift drop at the end of 2024. Lower
rates would help the economy by making it cheaper for U.S.
households and companies to borrow, but the downside is they
could also fuel more inflation.
Fed Chair Jerome Powell said the U.S. central bank could cut
rates if inflation slows further or if the job market suddenly
weakens. But “right now, we don’t see that, and we see things as
in a really good place for policy and for the economy, and so we
feel like we don’t need to be in a hurry to make any
adjustments.”
Earlier in the week, there was disruption driven by doubts about
the artificial-intelligence boom, after Chinese upstart,
DeepSeek said it developed a more affordable large-language AI
model.
In energy trading, benchmark U.S. crude declined 18 cents to
$72.44 a barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, fell
35 cents to $76.23 a barrel.
The U.S. dollar cost 154.56 Japanese yen, down from 155.24 yen.
The euro inched down to $1.0420 from $1.0423.
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AP Writer Stan Choe contributed.
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