MTS Help Center

·         Stocks closed slightly higher in choppy trading Wednesday as Wall Street tried to interpret a release from the Federal Reserve which summarized its crucial meeting last month where the central bank indicated it would be patient on future rate hikes.

The Nasdaq Composite ended the day just above the flatline at 7,489.07 to notch its eight consecutive gain. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 63.12 points to 25,954.44. The S&P 500 closed 0.2 percent higher at 2,784.70. Equities gyrated following the Fed's release, with the S&P 500 and Dow reaching their highs of the day.

·         The Fed meeting minutes highlighted downside risks to the economy from its January meeting, including "the possibilities of a sharper-than-expected slowdown in global economic growth, particularly in China and Europe, a rapid waning of fiscal policy stimulus, or a further tightening of financial market conditions."

However, some equity investors may be encouraged by language in the minutes regarding its hotly debated balance sheet normalization. Bulls want the Fed to stop reducing its balance sheet, arguing that practice is a de facto tightening of monetary conditions. The central bank did hint in the minutes that it may end its balance-sheet normalization this year.

"Almost all participants thought that it would be desirable to announce before too long a plan to stop reducing the Federal Reserve's asset holdings later this year," the minutes stated. 'Such an announcement would provide more certainty about the process for completing the normalization of the size of the Federal Reserve's balance sheet."

·         European stocks were slightly higher Wednesday afternoon, amid rising hopes the world's two largest economies could soon secure a trade deal to end a protracted dispute.

The pan-European Stoxx 600 closed provisionally up around 0.7 percent on Wednesday, with most sectors and major bourses in positive territory.

·         Stocks in Asia traded lower on Thursday morning following a choppy session on Wall Street as traders tried to interpret a release from the Federal Reserve.

Japan's Nikkei 225 slipped 0.27 percent in early trade while the Topix declined 0.3 percent. Shares of Japanese conglomerate Softbank Group fell more than 1.3 percent.

The Kospi in South Korea also declined 0.45 percent, with shares of Samsung Electronics shedding 1.17 percent, hours after the company unveiled its new series of Galaxy smartphones.

The ASX 200 in Australia bucked the overall trend as it rose around 0.2 percent as the heavily weighted financial subindex added 0.71 percent. Shares of the country's so-called Big Four banks mostly gained: Australia and New Zealand Banking Group advanced 1.14 percent, Commonwealth Bank of Australia added 1.14 percent, Westpac gained 0.64 percent. Shares of the National Australia Bank were slightly higher.