Asian stocks rally strongly as Fed hike, Ukraine talks boost sentiment

Asian stocks rally strongly as Fed hike, Ukraine talks boost sentiment

Treasury yields eased a little after spiking to nearly three-year highs overnight - with shorter-end yields rising more to flatten the curve - after the Fed raised the policy rate for the first time since 2018.







Reuters









March 17, 2022 / 08:38 AM IST





Japan and Hong Kong led a jump in regional stocks on Thursday, joining a rally on Wall Street overnight as potential risks from Federal Reserve monetary tightening to the Ukraine war and a slowdown in China became less murky.

Treasury yields eased a little after spiking to nearly three-year highs overnight - with shorter-end yields rising more to flatten the curve - after the Fed raised the policy rate for the first time since 2018.

The Fed increased rates by an as-expected quarter point and telegraphed equivalent hikes at every meeting for the remainder of this year to aggressively stamp out inflation.

The safe-haven dollar, though, remained on the back foot and oil also stabilized well south of recent multi-year highs amid signs of material progress in talks between Russia and Ukraine to end a three-week-old invasion that Moscow says is a "special military operation" to demilitarize its neighbor.

Meawhile,