Asia Stocks Cautious After Fed Minutes, Tokyo Sinks

Mohammad Ali (@ChaudhryMAli88) Published August 18, 2016 | 02:01 PM

HONG KONG,(UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 18th Augst,2016) - Asian stock markets moved cautiously Thursday after minutes from the Federal Reserve's July meeting showed caution about raising interest rates, supporting some markets but hitting Japan. Tokyo's main index sank as the Dollar fell against the safe haven Japanese Currency, slumping below 100 Yen for the second time this week, impacting Japan's exporters. Minutes from the US central bank's July gathering said policymakers were keeping their "options open" and remained divided on the threat of inflation. Its cautious tone did little to raise hopes for a rise in US borrowing costs, which would tend to lift the greenback by stirring demand for dollar-denominated assets.

"The message from the Fed is that they're going to be cautious in raising rates," Shane Oliver, Sydney-based global investment strategist at AMP Capital Investors Ltd.

told Bloomberg news. "That's supportive of the share markets." Jakarta, Bangkok and Hong Kong all rallied by at least one percent, while Seoul added 0.6 percent and Wellington gained 0.4 percent. Hong Kong-listed Tencent, lenovo and China Unicom helped drag up the main index in the southern Chinese city, with the two tech giants this week reporting higher quarterly profits. But Tokyo tumbled 1.6 percent as the stronger yen -- a negative for exporters as it tends to dent their profits -- hit companies such as Toyota and Nissan.