Melbourne city centre skyline alongside the Yarra River.
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Japan’s markets hit a fresh all-time high as Asia markets climbed after Federal Reserve maintained its forecast for three rate cuts while holding the Federal Funds rate at 5.25%-5.5%.
The outlook for three cuts came from the Fed’s “dot plot,” a closely watched matrix of anonymous projections from the 19 officials who comprise the Federal Open Market Committee. However, the chart provides no indication for the timing of the moves.
The updated dot plot indicated three cuts in 2025 as well – one fewer than the last time the grid was updated in December.
South Korea’s Kospi climbed over 2% to lead gains in Asia and hit its highest level since April 2022, while the small cap Kosdaq was up 1.52%,
Japan’s Nikkei 225 surged 1.67%, hitting a new all time high, while the Topix also set a new record and rose 1.57%.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index gained 1.74%, while the CSI 300 on the Chinese mainland inched up 0.32%.
In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 started the day up 0.93%, after flash data from Judo Bank showed that the country’s business activity expanded at a faster pace in March compared with the prior month.
The country’s composite purchasing managers index stood at 52.4, up from 52.1 in February.
Overnight in the U.S., all three major indexes rose, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P500 closing at record highs.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rallied 1.03% to finish at 39,512.13, while the S&P 500 gained 0.89% to close at 5,224.62. rising above the 5,200 level for the first time.
The Nasdaq Composite jumped 1.25%, powered by megacap tech stocks.
— CNBC’s Sarah Min and Samantha Subin contributed to this report