Traffic moves through a building in downtown Jakarta, Indonesia.
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Spot gold prices rose to a new record on Thursday after the US Federal Reserve left its benchmark interest rate unchanged at its target range of 3.5% to 3.75% overnight.
Bullion rose more than 3%, topping the $5,500 per ounce level for the first time.
Asia-Pacific markets were mostly up on Thursday.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.07% to close at 8,927.5.
Japanese Nikkei Stock Average Reversing the previous day’s losses, it closed just above the flatline at 53,358.71, while Topix rose 0.28% to 3,545.3. South Korea’s Kospi rose 0.98% to close at 5,221.25, while the small-cap Kosdaq rose 2.73% to 1,164.41.
Samsung Electronics’ stock price rose 2.58% on Thursday, but then reversed and ended 1.05% lower. The company reported Thursday that its fourth-quarter profit soared more than threefold, setting a new record and beating expectations due to a memory chip shortage and strong demand for artificial intelligence servers.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index rose 0.41% in volatile trade, while the mainland’s CSI300 index closed 0.76% higher at 4,753.87.
Investors focused on developments in Indonesia after the benchmark Jakarta Composite stock price plunged more than 8% on Wednesday following a statement by index provider MSCI warning that the country could be downgraded to frontier market status.
Trading was halted on Thursday after the benchmark fell by 8%, and the Indonesian rupiah edged weaker against the dollar to Rp16,778, according to a press release from the stock exchange. The index pared losses and was down 1.2% in recent trading.
Goldman Sachs has downgraded Indonesia to underweight on expectations for further passive selling, the investment bank said in a note published on Thursday. The bank’s strategists also viewed this development as an “overhang that hinders market performance.”
Singapore’s central bank on Thursday left monetary policy unchanged, warning of upside risks to inflation and demand as the city-state’s economic outlook remains resilient. The country’s benchmark Straits Times Index rose 0.24%.
In the United States, the S&P 500 reached a milestone overnight, reaching 7,000 for the first time, but fell after the Federal Reserve left interest rates unchanged and raised its economic growth assessment.
The broader market index ended the day down 0.01% at 6,978.03. Earlier, the S&P 500 index rose 0.3% on the day to hit an intraday high of 7,002.28.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.02% to close at 49,015.60. The Nasdaq Composite Index outperformed, rising 0.17% to settle at 23,857.45.
U.S. Treasury yields rose in response to the Fed’s decision, as the central bank’s statement said economic activity was “expanding at a steady pace” and the unemployment rate was “showing signs of stabilizing.”
“I think, and many of my colleagues do, that it’s hard to say, looking at the data that’s coming out, that policy is going to be significantly restrictive at this point,” Fed Chairman Jerome Powell said at a news conference.
—CNBC’s Sean Conlon and Pia Singh contributed to this report.
