Global stocks rose across the board, with the S&P 500 hitting a new high as the US Federal Reserve began its monetary policy meeting. Meanwhile, global crude oil prices hit a five-month high, while gold prices fell.
Global stocks rose across the board on March 19, with the S&P 500 hitting a new high. After a positive session on European exchanges, all three major Wall Street indexes rose despite a gloomy start. At the close of trading on the New York Stock Exchange, the Dow Jones rose 0.8% to 39,110.76 points; the S&P 500 rose 0.6% to a record high of 5,178.51 points; while the Nasdaq rose 0.4% to 16,166.79 points.
On the other side of the Atlantic, key stock indices including the FTSE 100 (UK), CAC 40 (France), and DAX (Germany) all rose, with the CAC 40 gaining the most (0.7%). The survey showed that the confidence of German investors increased more than expected, which was a factor supporting stocks across Europe.
On the same day, the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) began a two-day meeting to discuss interest rate policy. Although investors expect interest rates to fall at some point this year, recent US economic data reports show that inflation is still uncertain, leading to the risk that the FED will have difficulty reaching a consensus on starting to ease monetary policy from June as investors expect.
Earlier, the Bank of Japan (BoJ) decided to raise its overnight lending rate to 0% - 0.1%, up slightly from minus 0.1% - 0%, ending the aggressive monetary easing policy the bank has applied since 2016 to stimulate lending. With this move, the BoJ became the last major monetary authority in the world to abandon the negative interest rate policy. Even if the BoJ eventually raises interest rates, investors still hope the Fed will cut interest rates, said Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell.
Crude oil prices rose to a five-month high for a second straight session on Wednesday as traders assessed the impact of recent attacks on Russian oil facilities on global supplies. On Wall Street, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures rose 75 cents, or 0.9 percent, to $83.47 a barrel, their highest since October 27. In London, Brent crude rose 0.6 percent to $87.38 a barrel, their highest since October 31.
Meanwhile, in the precious metals market, the price of gold for April 2024 delivery decreased by 4.6 USD (0.21%), closing at 2,159.7 USD/ounce, near the lowest level in a week recorded in the previous session.
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