- Asian shares rebounded on Thursday as speculation the U.S. Federal Reserve might opt to not raise interest rates at all this year hammered the dollar and sparked a huge rally in oil prices.
By some measures the U.S. currency suffered its largest one-day percentage drop outside of the crises of 1998 and 2008, symptomatic of just how crowded bullish positions had been.
The sudden reversal provided a much-needed boost to beleaguered commodities, sending oil up no less than 8 percent, and easing pressure on energy shares and risk appetite.
- Stocks in the US ended higher after a rough start, one day after a worldwide rout across financial markets sent the Dow sliding more than 300 points.
At the closing bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 183 points, or 1.1 per cent, to 16,337, reversing earlier losses. The S&P 500 was up 0.5 per cent, though the Nasdaq Composite bucked the trend to fall 0.3 per cent.
US oil prices were higher, soaring 8 per cent to $US32.28 a barrel.
Earlier, soft trading followed a deep decline in stock markets globally Tuesday, the latest in a rocky start to the year for financial markets, as investors grapple with the slide in oil prices, spotty global growth and diverging monetary policy around the world.
The yield on the 10-year Treasury note rose slightly to 1.879 per cent from 1.864 per cent on Tuesday.
The Stoxx Europe 600 pared early losses to fall 0.1 per cent, with losses concentrated in the banking sector.
Reference: Reuters, Businessspectator
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