Asia-Pacific markets were set to open lower Thursday, tracking losses on Wall Street that saw the Dow Jones Industrial Average touch a new closing low for the year.
The Federal Reserve held its key policy rate steady at 3.5% to 3.75%, with Chair Jerome Powell watering down rate-cut expectations, saying that inflation was not coming down as much as ‘hoped.’
The producer price index — which tracks the change in wholesale prices — rose 0.7% in February, well above the 0.3% that economists polled by Dow Jones had estimated.
Despite that, the U.S. central bank’s “dot plot” still projects a cut in 2026 and another in 2027, even though the timing is unclear.
Iran war continues to fuel energy worries. International benchmark Brent crude futures rose 3.83% to settle at $107.38 per barrel. U.S. oil prices were trading at elevated levels as well, with West Texas Intermediate futures closing marginally higher at $96.32 per barrel.
