Tokyo closes down 1% following Wall Street, after the Fed
The Tokyo stock exchange finished lower on Wall Street with investors taking profits after the Nikkei index jumped above 29,000 points for the first time in seven months on Wednesday.
The minute from the last Fed meeting in late July, released yesterday, did not allow financial markets to learn much more about the monetary institution’s future direction, with officials leaving all options open. At the end of trading, the Nikkei index left 1% on the ground closing at 28942.14 points while the broader topix index returned below 2,000 points (-0.84 to 1,990.15 points).
The Americans have read double indications in the minutes of the Central Bank: on the one hand it emerged that the FEd will continue to raise interest rates until there is a sharp drop in inflation. At the same time, many bankers have highlighted the risks of excessive monetary tightening and predict, at some point, a slowdown in interest rate hikes. At its latest meeting, held on July 26-27, Washington’s monetary policy arm unanimously decided to raise interest rates by 75 basis points for the second consecutive time, bringing them to 2.25% -2. 50%. Before that, the first hike of half a percentage point since May 2000 had been decided. In March, the US central bank announced the first hike in interest rates (by 25 basis points) since December 2018. Hikes decided to counteract the inflation, at the highest of the last 40 years. Interest rates were lowered to 0-0.25% in March 2020, to counter the negative effects of the coronavirus pandemic on the US economy. Recent macroeconomic data shows a slowdown in inflation, which is why many investors now expect a less aggressive Fed on rates: in September, the increase could be ‘only’ 50 points and not 75.
Yesterday, however, weakness prevailed: the Dow Jones lost 171.29 points (-0.5%), interrupting a series of five consecutive sessions on the rise. The S&P 500 lost 31.14 points (-0.70%), the Nasdaq closed down 164.43 points (-1.25%).