World shares jump after Powell nixes rate hike fears

World shares jump after Powell nixes rate hike fears

In Asia, MSCI's ex-Japan Asia-Pacific shares index rose 1.5% while Japan's Nikkei gained 1.7%.Hong Kong's Hang Seng .HSI jumped 1.5% to pare more than half of its previous day's losses following the announcement of a stamp duty hike.In a second day of testimony in Washington, Powell reiterated the Fed's promise to get the U.S. economy back to full employment and to not worry about inflation unless prices rose in a persistent and troubling way."Powell said it will take three years for them to achieve its inflation target, essentially reaffirming the Fed will not raise interest rates until 2023," said Norihiro Fujito, chief investment strategist at Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities."A huge amount of cash investors have to work is flowing into the stock market, and that is more than offsetting any negative aspects of higher bond yields."The prospects of a prolonged period of low interest rates came as investors expect a huge U.S. fiscal stimulus and a progress in COVID-19 vaccinations to shore up the economy, especially the sectors hit the hardest by the pandemic.The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said on Wednesday Johnson & Johnson's one-dose COVID-19 vaccine appeared safe and effective in trials, paving the way for its