Investing.com -- The Federal Reserve goes big, rolling out a jumbo half-point interest rate cut and signalling that more reductions may be coming this year. US stock futures edge higher on Thursday after equities ended the prior session lower following the announcement and a closely-watched news conference with Fed Chair Jerome Powell. The Bank of England is now set to reveal its latest rate decision, followed by the Bank of Japan on Friday.
At a press conference, Fed Chair Jerome Powell downplayed concerns about a recession, pointing to resilient economic growth, cooling price gains and a"solid" labor market. Elsewhere, the spread between the 2-year and 10-year US Treasury yield, an indicator of future growth projections, steepened to its highest level since 2022, the"Unless jobs figures come in much stronger than expected, and force the Fed to a more cautious easing path, the dollar appears bound to stay soft into the US election," analysts at ING said in a note.
Beyond the UK, the Bank of Japan is tipped to keep interest rates unchanged at the conclusion of a two-day meeting on Friday, although officials could still present a hawkish outlook on expectations of higher inflation.Gold prices were slightly higher in early European trade on Thursday, although the yellow metal was nursing overnight losses despite some optimism over the Fed's jumbo rate cut.
However, the prospect of lower rates still bodes well for non-yielding assets such as gold, given that it decreases the opportunity cost of investing in bullion.Crude prices rose after the large interest rate cut from the US central bank raised hopes of increased economic activity in the world’s largest consumer, but concerns over global demand lingered.US government data released on Wednesday showed a bigger-than-expected, 1.63 million barrel draw in inventories.
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