Global Equity Markets Mixed After The Fed

Asian markets are trading on a positive note today after US Federal Reserve cuts its final round of QE tapering in yesterday’s trading session. Economic data scheduled to be released today are likely to continue increasing the volatility in the markets. Housing data from the UK; inflation and unemployment data from Germany; economic, industrial and consumer confidence data from Europe are all likely to continue increasing the current levels of volatility. GDP data from the US would need to be watched out for deciding the direction of the markets for the next few days.  Hong Kong stocks eased lower in early Thursday trading, with some earnings-related weakness among bank and energy shares helping depress the wider market. The Hang Seng was 0.2% lower in initial moves, with the H-share index down 0.7%.

Wall Street stocks and US bonds dipped after the Federal Reserve offered a brighter assessment of the US job market, a shift that investors reckoned could bring forward the timing of interest rate increases.  The Fed also said it would end its bond buying program in October, as expected.  At the closing bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 31 points, or 0.2 per cent, to 16,974. Stocks had fallen to session lows in the minutes after the Fed decision before recovering marginally by close. The S&P 500 fell 3 points, or 0.1 per cent, to 1,982. The Nasdaq declined 15 points, or 0.3 per cent, to 4,549. 

Concern that Europe is slipping into a recession and China’s economy is slowing just as the Fed ends bond buying sent the U.S. equities down 7.4 percent through Oct. 15 from a record high reached mid-September. The gauge then rallied 6.6 percent through Oct. 28 after Fed Bank of St. Louis President James Bullard said officials should consider delaying the end of QE amid the global concerns.

European stocks ended the day firmly in positive territory on Tuesday, regaining some of Monday’s losses, as investors reacted to third-quarter earnings and prepared for a key monetary policy decision from the U.S. European stocks rose for the second day as investors weighed better-than-expected results from companies including Total and Schneider Electric and shrugged off earnings reports from other stocks that missed analysts’ projections.

The pan-European FTSE 300 provisionally closed 1 percent higher at 1,317.80. The U.K.’s FTSE ended up around 0.7 percent, Germany’s DAX closed around 1.9 percent higher and France’s CAC was up 0.5 percent. Equities in the region have entered a more stable period this week, rebounding from a series of heavy sell-offs that approached the point technically considered to be a market correction.