Asian markets rise after US Fed's rate cut leads to rally at Wall Street

After the Federal Reserve lowered interest rates and Chair Jerome Powell expressed hope that the US economy would improve as the inflationary effects of tariffs subsided, Asian stocks mirrored gains on Wall Street.
The IT and finance sectors led the 0.5% increase in the MSCI Asia Pacific Index during early trading.

This comes as the Russell 2000 gauge of small-cap stocks surged 1.3% to a record on Wednesday, while the S&P 500 closed up 0.7%, falling shy of all-time highs. Bonds surged after the Fed authorised the purchase of new Treasury bills to replenish bank reserves along with a quarter-point rate cut.

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As markets closed in New York, Nasdaq 100 futures were down 0.3% early in Asia as disappointing Oracle Corp. results provided a partial blow to the positive attitude. In post-market trade, the company's shares, whose destiny is closely linked to the growth of artificial intelligence, fell. The stock of Nvidia Corp. decreased as well.

Powell said the Fed has now done enough to assist in stabilising the threat to employment while keeping rates high enough to continue exerting pressure on prices after making a third consecutive decrease. In 2026, officials increased their median expectation for growth while maintaining their forecast for just one decrease.