-
Spotlight turns to the ECB
Asian equity markets rose following last night’s decision by the US Federal Reserve to raise interest rates. The outcome was widely expected, with the 25bps hike taking the policy interest rate range up to 5.25-5.50%, a 22-year high. The key focus was potential indications about future policy. On that, Fed Chair Powell stressed that any further action will be data dependent and that means it was currently unclear whether or not they would hike again in September. Markets seem to be attaching only a low probability of a September hike but there is a long 8-week period and lots of data to digest before then. After ... (full story)