Global stocks and commodities are rallying today (Wednesday) following the U.S.Federal Reserve interest rate announcement from Chair Janet Yellen yesterday.
Yellen was extremely dovish in yesterday’s Federal Reserve interest rate statement, saying the central bank needs to remain cautious when hiking rates this year. The Fed has also cut the number of rate hikes it plans to hold in 2016 from four to two.
This news will continue to have a major impact on stocks in 2016, but before we get to that outlook, here’s how stocks are trending today…
U.S. stock markets jumped early Wednesday. The Dow, S&P 500, and Nasdaq were all up more than 0.7% in early morning trading.
The Stoxx Europe 600 was up 1.8% midday. Asian markets also followed Wall Street higher. The Shanghai Composite Index closed up 2.8%, and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index gained 1.7%.
During yesterday’s Federal Reserve interest rate statement, Yellen said that “global developments pose ongoing risks.” These risks have contributed to the financial market volatility witnessed both last summer and in early 2016.
A key concern is the slowing pace of global growth, which is widely influenced by developments in China. Yellen acknowledged the consensus is that China’s economy will slow in the coming years. The world’s second-largest economy is transitioning away from investment toward consumption, and from exports toward domestic sources of growth.
In short, Yellen’s message was that the Federal Reserve interest rate policy will be adjusted as necessary. Policy adjustments include keeping interest rates low, which will hopefully stop low oil prices and other factors from weakening the U.S. stock markets any further.
Today’s jump in U.S. stocks shows just how much influence these Federal Reserve interest rate announcements have on the markets. Here’s what investors can expect for the rest of 2016…
