advertisement

Markets steady ahead of expected Fed action

LONDON — Expectations that the Federal Reserve will announce a new stimulus plan to boost the U.S. economy shored up markets Wednesday despite concerns over North Korea’s test launch of a long-range rocket.

The Fed is widely expected to announce a new bond-buying program to replace one that’s about to expire at the end of its two-day policy meeting later Wednesday.

“Such a move would be a welcome distraction for markets bored by the political brinksmanship being played out in Washington,” said Chris Beauchamp, market analyst at IG, referring to discussions between the White House and Congress over a budget deal that is needed to avoid the so-called “fiscal cliff” of automatic spending cuts and tax increases at the start of next year.

The Fed has launched three rounds of quantitative easing since the financial crisis hit in 2008 and they have been widely credited with shoring up financial markets.

In Europe, Britain’s FTSE 100 was up 0.3 percent at 5,939 while Germany’s DAX rose the same rate to 7,611. The CAC-40 in France was down 0.1 percent at 3,643.

Wall Street was poised for a solid opening, with both Dow futures and the S&P 500 futures up 0.1 percent.

As well as monitoring the Fed, investors will be keeping a close watch on the budget discussions as well as another meeting of the European finance ministers in Brussels.

Greece will likely be a key talking point again, especially on Thursday when the 17 euro finance ministers meet, after the country’s debt management agency said a bond buyback plan had been completed.

The agency said Wednesday that the country will buy back (euro) 31.9 billion ($41.5 billion) worth of its bonds, a key part of a package of measures designed to get the country’s mountainous debt back to sustainable levels over the next decade.

The successful buyback deal was a major requirement before Greece could be granted a long-delayed installment of its international bailout funds. Athens expects the (euro) 34.4 billion payment to be approved by its creditors on Thursday.

Relief that Greece will likely get the money helped support the euro despite figures showing a surprise 1.4 percent monthly drop in industrial output across the 17 countries that use the euro. The euro was 0.2 percent higher at $1.3028.

Earlier in Asia, stocks posted gains in spite of Pyongyang’s successful launch of a long-range rocket early in the day. The action, condemned by the U.S., South Korea and Japan, is believed to have been a test of technology seen as crucial to advancing North Korea’s nuclear weapons ambitions.

Despite the launch, Japan’s Nikkei 225 index rose 0.6 percent to 9,581.46, its highest close since late April. Advances on the Nikkei were largely attributed to the yen’s recent weakness against the dollar and the euro. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng added 0.8 percent to 22,503.3 while South Korea’s Kospi gained 0.6 percent to 1,975.44.

Oil prices tracked equities modestly even though OPEC oil ministers are signaling that they will stick to present daily output targets of 30 million barrels at their meeting Wednesday — the benchmark New York rate was 43 cents higher at $86.22 a barrel.

Article Comments
Guidelines: Keep it civil and on topic; no profanity, vulgarity, slurs or personal attacks. People who harass others or joke about tragedies will be blocked. If a comment violates these standards or our terms of service, click the "flag" link in the lower-right corner of the comment box. To find our more, read our FAQ.