Asian stocks jumped Thursday on China’s efforts to soothe market nerves and the Federal Reserve’s reassurance that it’s moving very gradually toward tapering stimulus if the U.S. makes more economic progress.
Hong Kong and China outperformed, paring steep losses this week sparked by Beijing’s crackdown on private enterprises. A Hang Seng tech index surged on a report that China will continue to allow local firms to go public in the U.S. S&P 500 futures edged back and Nasdaq 100 contracts dipped after Facebook Inc. fell in extended trading on a cautious outlook. European futures slipped.
China’s selloff is easing after authorities took steps to reassure investors, including articles in state-run media suggesting the rout went too far. The central bank boosted cash injections into the financial system to ease anxiety.
Treasury yields were steady and the dollar slipped in the wake of the Fed meeting. Officials discussed how to go about scaling back bond buying when the time comes, but no decision on timing has been made. Chair Jerome Powell said there was still some way to go to meet the conditions for tapering.
