Asian equities gained as the Fed maintained the possibility of rate cuts

Thursday saw a rally in most Asian equities, with Japan's Nikkei 225 reaching a new high following the Federal Reserve's announcement that it was still planning to decrease interest rates by at least three times in 2024.

Wall Street gave regional markets a big head start, as U.S. benchmark indices ended the Fed meeting on Wednesday at all-time highs. In Asian trade, U.S. stock futures also increased.

Chair Jerome Powell said that inflation was still headed towards the Fed's 2% annual objective as the Fed held rates constant on Wednesday. Additionally, estimates by Fed officials called for a 75 basis point drop in interest rates this year.

Among the top performers in Asia on Thursday was the Nikkei 225 index, which increased by 2.2% to all-time highs.

Gains were widespread as the Bank of Japan's dovish comments also improved investor confidence towards Japanese equities.

Despite the fact that the central bank stopped its yield curve control programme and raised interest rates for the first time in 17 years, Governor Kazuo Ueda stated that monetary conditions will remain generally accommodating in the foreseeable future, citing uncertainty surrounding the Japanese economy.

Amidst renewed enthusiasm surrounding artificial intelligence, particularly following Nvidia's announcement of a new range of AI processors this week, Asian technology equities continued their current upswing.

Key events today:

• UK PMIs due at 09:30GMT
• BoE Interest Rate Decision & Meeting Minutes at 12:00GMT
• US Initial Jobless Claims at 12:30GMT
• US PMIs at 13:45GMT

(Sources: investing.com, reuters.com)