Mirroring the broadly negative cues from Wall Street overnight, Asian stock markets are a sea of red on Thursday, amid renewed concerns about the outlook for interest rates after the US Fed signaled on keeping interest rates at an elevated level through 2024 after one more rate hike this year, despite the decision to hold interest rates steady this month. Asian Markets closed mostly lower on Wednesday.
The forecast for rates at the end of 2024 was raised to 5.1 percent from 4.6 percent in June, while the outlook for rates at the end of 2025 was increased to 3.9 percent from 3.4 percent
For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com
Market Analysis
April 24, 2026 15:15 ET Economics news flow was relatively light this week even as the conflict in the Middle East continued, raising concerns for policymakers. In the U.S., spending data, initial jobless claims and pending home sales were the highlights. Business confidence in the biggest euro area economy was in focus in Europe. Inflation data from Japan gained attention in Asia.