Economists warn of market turbulence after Japan stocks jump on Fed move

Tokyo

JAPANESE stocks hit a more than one-week high on Thursday, after the Federal Reserve announced its first interest-rate increase in nine years, in step with a generally positive reaction to the widely expected move by the US central bank.

But the rallies could prove to be short-lived and give way to bouts of market turbulence, economists warned.

The Nikkei 225 stock share average ended 1.6 per cent higher at 19,353.56, the highest closing level since Dec 8, while the yen was little changed against the dollar.

"The initial reaction has clearly been somewhat of a relief rally, even for emerging markets," Sonja Gibbs, director of the Capital Markets and Emerging Markets Policy Department of the Institute of International Finance (IIF) i…