• In the currency market, the rise in Treasury yields boosted the dollar's attractiveness. The euro EUR= dropped to $1.1883 from above $1.20 just before the Fed's policy announcement.
Likewise the dollar jumped to 112.595 yen JPY=, a two-month high, from around 111.30.
• The yield on two-year U.S. Treasury notes jumped to 1.451 percent US2YT=RR, its highest level since November 2008 late on Wednesday. The 10-year U.S. Treasuries yield US10YT=RR rose to 2.278 percent, briefly hitting a six-week high of 2.289 percent.
• The Fed signalled it still expects one more interest rate hike by the end of the year, despite a recent bout of low inflation, but ratcheted down its long-term interest rate forecasts.
Fed fund rate futures FFF8 are now pricing in about a 65 percent chance of a rate hike by December compared to around 50 percent before the latest meeting. Markets expect the Fed move to coincide with revisions of its economic projections.
• The European Commission on Wednesday proposed transferring some powers to oversee the financial sector from national capitals in a move to extend the EU’s grip on the industry as the bloc prepares for the departure of London, its main financial hub.
• The German economy weakened at the start of the third quarter after a strong performance in the first half of the year, but indicators suggest its solid growth will continue, the Finance Ministry said on Thursday.
Europe’s biggest economy is enjoying a consumer-led upswing, propelled by record-high employment, rising real wages and low borrowing costs - conditions that are likely to help Chancellor Angela Merkel win a fourth term in a federal election on Sunday.
• South Korea approved a plan on Thursday to send $8 million worth of aid to North Korea, as China warned the crisis on the Korean peninsula was getting more serious by the day and the war of words between Pyongyang and Washington continued.
North Korea’s foreign minister likened U.S. President Donald Trump to a “barking dog” on Thursday, after Trump warned he would “totally destroy” the North if it threatened the United States and its allies.
• Germans head to the polls Sunday for national elections that could prove to be the country’s most consequential political contests in decades.
While Chancellor Angela Merkel looks likely to win a fourth term, several smaller parties could have a big impact on the 63-year old's stewardship in her next term.
Though the CDU and CSU lagged in polling late last year, their fortunes have changed in recent months thanks in part to surging support for Merkel. Most surveys predict Merkel and her party will win easily.
• Oil markets dipped on Thursday, weighed down by rising crude inventories and production in the United States as well as a stronger dollar, which potentially hampers fuel consumption in countries that use other currencies at home.
Brent crude futures LCOc1, the international benchmark for oil prices, were at $56.12 a barrel, as of 0656 GMT, down 17 cents, or 0.3 percent, from their last close.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures CLc1 were at $50.58 per barrel, down 11 cents or 0.2 percent.
Reference: Reuters, CNBC, ABC News
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