Global shares surge after the Fed’s upbeat assessment of the US economy; gold gains from inflation outlook

Global shares surge after the Fed’s upbeat assessment of the US economy; gold gains from inflation outlook

Global shares rallied on Thursday, following the Federal Reserve's decision to wrap up economic stimulus more quickly as growth picks up, pushing the S&P 500 back towards record highs. Futures on the rose 0.48% while those on the climbed 0.56% and futures jumped 0.64% as of 05:30 a.m ET, indicating a strong start to trading later on. The Fed said on Wednesday that most Covid-hit sectors had recovered, unemployment had fallen significantly and that the steps it was taking would ensure economic growth was sustained. "Progress on vaccinations and an easing of supply constraints are expected to support continued gains in economic activity and employment as well as a reduction in inflation. Risks to the economic outlook remain, including from new variants of the virus," The Fed said in a on Wednesday. The Federal Open Market Committee favored raising interest rates in 2022 at a faster pace than was initially expected to prevent inflation increasing further, though it said it expects it to remain above 2% "for some time". The central bank also said it would double the rate of tapering to $30 billion a month and suggested it could raise interest rates three times next year. "In our view,