Asia stocks subdued after Powell testimony fails to surprise

SINGAPORE : Asian shares made a tentative start to Thursday after Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell stuck to his recent hawkish tone as investors assess the future rate policy path from the Fed.

Last week, the Fed held its benchmark interest rate steady at level between 5 per cent and 5.25 per cent, but officials projected rates will have to increase another half percentage point by year's end to tame inflation. "It's clear that the FOMC wants the market to understand that a hike will be on the table for debate at the next meeting. The Fed's data-dependent approach in this tightening cycle suggests upcoming data releases could shift expectations."

Investor attention will be on Bank of England later in the day, with a hike widely expected and the only contention is how big the raise will be after inflation data came in hotter than expected on Wednesday. "The BoE's conditional guidance put the burden of proof on the data showing more persistent inflation pressures to continue hiking bank rate. Combined with wages data last week, they have got that in spades."

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