Global shares trade higher after Wall Street climbs moderately as Fed holds rates steady

Tokyo, May 8: Global shares rose moderately Thursday after a lackluster finish on Wall Street, with most shares ticking higher after the Federal Reserve left its main interest rate unchanged, as was widely expected.

France's CAC 40 rose 0.7 per cent in early trading to 7,682.21, while Germany's DAX jumped 1.0 per cent to 23,347.88. Britain's FTSE 100 added 0.3 per cent to 8,581.51.

US shares were set to drift higher with Dow futures gaining 0.5 per cent to 41,434.00. S&P 500 futures rose 0.9 per cent to 5,701.25.

Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 edged up 0.4 per cent to finish at 36,928.63. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 added 0.2 per cent to 8,191.70. South Korea's Kospi rose 0.2 per cent to 2,579.48. Hong Kong's Hang Seng surged 0.4 per cent to 22,775.92, while the Shanghai Composite gained 0.3 per cent to 3,352.00.

Investors continue to watch with trepidation US President Donald Trump's comments about the trade imbalance, as well as the reactions from various nations to appease the Trump administration and the overall confusion over the long-term economic impact.

Geopolitical tensions also weighed on market sentiments, centred around the standoff between India and Pakistan. Pakistan has said it will avenge those killed by India's missile strikes, which New Delhi called retaliation for last month's massacre of Indian tourists in Pahalgam. Pakistan called the strikes an act of war.

The missiles killed 31 people, including women and children, in PoK and the country's Punjab province, Pakistan's military said. The strikes targeted at least nine sites “where terrorist attacks against India have been planned,” India's Defence Ministry said. Two mosques were hit.

Markets are also hopeful that the United States and China may be making the first moves toward a trade deal. The announcement for high-level talks between US and Chinese officials this weekend in Switzerland helped raise optimism, but some of that washed away after Trump said that he wouldn't reduce his 145 per cent tariffs on Chinese goods as a condition for negotiations.

Fed Chair Jerome Powell said that gives the central bank time to wait before making any potential moves on interest rates, even if Trump has been lobbying for quicker cuts to juice the economy.

“There's so much that we don't know,” Powell said. So like the rest of Wall Street and the world, the Fed is waiting to see what will actually end up happening in Trump's trade war and whether his tariffs, which were much stiffer than expected, will hit as proposed.

“For now, trade optimism is outweighing yesterday's Fed hawkishness and may help set the tone for the rest of the week — especially with the US and China preparing to meet in Geneva to discuss their unsustainable tariff situation," said Ipek Ozkardeskaya, senior analyst at Swissquote Bank.

In energy trading, benchmark US crude gained 38 cents to USD 58.40 a barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, added 31 cents to USD 61.43 a barrel.

In currency trading, the US dollar edged up to 144.72 Japanese Yen from 143.76 Yen. The Euro cost USD 1.1288, down from USD 1.1317.