Markets face one of the busiest days of the year on Wednesday, with the UK Budget at lunchtime, the Federal Reserve’s rate decision in the afternoon and Microsoft and Alphabet reporting after Wall Street closes — a triple test that has already lifted Asian shares and pushed oil back above $115 a barrel. Wall Street finished Tuesday higher, led by technology, with the S&P 500 rising 0.60 per cent to 7,722.60, the Nasdaq Composite gaining 1.18 per cent to 26,477.81 and the Dow virtually flat at 52,377.57, according to market summaries. Asia followed: South Korea’s Kospi surged more than 6 per cent to close above 6,000 after SK Hynix’s record results, Japan’s Nikkei rallied about 1.1 per cent to 63,954, Taiwan’s Taiex advanced 2 per cent and Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 gained about 0.3 per cent.
Oil, gold and yields
Brent crude rose about 1.4 per cent to $115.47 a barrel and US crude to $101.33 amid renewed Middle East supply concerns. Gold edged up to about $4,061 an ounce, the dollar held near a two-week high at an index level of about 102.4, sterling sat just under $1.33 and the US 10-year Treasury yield crept above 5 per cent. Bitcoin held steady near $80,800.
What the day will decide
“Investors want to see how these two mega-cap tech stocks are monetising their AI investments,” XTB director Kathleen Brooks told Reuters ahead of the Microsoft and Alphabet results. “These results could determine if the tech/AI rally has legs. Any signs of a failure to monetise investments, or a slowdown in capex spend, could have big repercussions.” The Fed is widely expected to hold rates at 3.75 to 4.00 per cent, while the Bank of Japan meets on Thursday and the European Central Bank also decides this week. New Zealand’s central bank already delivered the week’s first surprise, holding rates against expectations of a hike.
