Asian markets rally after Fed pauses interest rate hikes

ASIAN stocks rallied on Thursday (Nov 2) after the US Federal Reserve signalled that the cycle of interest rate hikes may be coming to an end.

On Wednesday, the Fed kept interest rates unchanged. Fed chair Jerome Powell also acknowledged that there has been significant tightening of financial conditions in recent months, leading traders to believe that the Fed is done with hikes.

Regional markets ended mostly higher on Thursday. The Nikkei 225 gained 1.1 per cent, the Kospi Composite Index rose 1.8 per cent, and the Hang Seng Index climbed 0.8 per cent.