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Overnight, Wall St surged after the Federal Reserve officially approved a quarter percentage point cut to the interest rates, bringing the rate to the range of 3.50% – 3.75%. The Dow Jones rallied 1.1% on the news, the S&P500 jumped 0.8% and closed just shy of its all-time high, and the Nasdaq gained 0.5%. In his remarks, Chairman Jerome Powell ruled out any chance of a rate increase in 2026, and investors are betting that there will be at least one, if not multiple rate cuts to come next year – a bullish sign for equities.
Europe saw another relatively stable trading session – the Stoxx600 index closed up 0.1%, as the FTSE advanced by a similar amount while the German DAX and French CAC declined by 0.1% and 0.4% respectively.
And in Asia, the CSI fell 0.1%, the Hang Seng gained 0.4% and the Nikkei fell 0.1%.
Locally yesterday, the ASX200 edged down 0.1%, however it was only the high flying materials sector which prevented greater losses on the day, as 9 of the 11 key sectors posted losses on the day. Gold miners were particularly strong in the wake of the Fed’s rate cut, with big names Newmont (ASX:NEM) and Northern Star (ASX:NST) increasing 4.4% and 5.1%.
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