Australia

Australian shares are set to edge lower following a volatile session on Wall Street. Major US indices were flat or lower after investors digested remarks made by US Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell.

ASX futures were down 15 points or 0.2% at 7351 as of 7:00am on Friday, pointing to a slip at the open.

The US indexes are mixed Thursday after data showed that household spending rose sharply in October as the pace of underlying inflation eased. In the last hour of trade the S&P 500 was down 0.1%, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.6% while the tech-focused Nasdaq 100 index was flat, or 0.01% in the green.

In crypto news, Sam Bankman-Fried said that he didn’t intend to commit any fraud or use customer funds to back leveraged bets that went wrong at Alameda Research, a crypto hedge fund attached to FTX.

The moves Thursday follow bursts across the major averages in the previous session on the heels of a speech by Powell in Washington, in which he signaled US central bank officials may downshift the final interest rate hike of the year later this month to 50 basis points.

In commodity markets, Brent crude was mostly flat to $US87.01 a barrel, gold jumped nearly 2% to US$1,802.21.

In local bond markets, the yield on Australian 2 Year government bonds dropped to 3.04% while the 10 Year fell to 3.48%. Overseas, the yield on 2 Year US Treasury notes declined to 4.25% and the yield on the 10 Year US Treasury notes was down at 3.53%.

The Australian dollar hit 68 US cents. The Wall Street Journal Dollar Index, which tracks the US dollar against 16 other currencies edged down to 97.46.

Asia

Asian stocks rose notably on Thursday after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell hinted at slowing the pace of rate hikes and the giant Chinese cities of Guangzhou and Chongqing announced an easing of COVID curbs in the wake of nationwide rallies calling for an end to lockdowns.

China's Shanghai Composite index rose 0.45% after Vice Premier Sun Chunlan said the Omicron variant was weakening and vaccination rates were improving. The relaxing of some anti-COVID measures in China also boosted hopes that China would soon reopen its economy. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index hit a two-month higher before closing 0.75% higher.

Japanese shares posted strong gains after data showed domestic firms ramped up capital spending at their fastest pace in over four years in the third quarter. The Nikkei average rose 0.92% to 28,226.08, snapping a four-day losing streak.

Europe

The pan European Stoxx 600 climbed 0.76%. Germany's DAX gained 0.69% and France's CAC 40 advanced 0.23%, while the U.K.'s FTSE 100 ended 0.19% down.

European stocks closed higher after investors cheered US Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell's comments that interest rate hikes will be smaller, starting as early as December.

In the UK market, Ocado Group climbed 6.8% after launching a new supplier insights product to help drive sales and increase revenue. ICP surged 6.25% and Schrodders rallied 4.75%. Prudential, Scottish Mortgage, RS Group, Haleon, Kingfisher, Ashtead Group, Halma, United Utilities, Dechra Pharmaceuticals, Segro and Barratt Developments gained 2 to 4%.

North America

The US indexes are mixed Thursday after data showed that household spending rose sharply in October as the pace of underlying inflation eased. In the last hour of trade the S&P 500 was down 0.1%, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.6% while the tech-focused Nasdaq 100 index was flat, or 0.01% in the green.

In crypto news, Sam Bankman-Fried said that he didn’t intend to commit any fraud or use customer funds to back leveraged bets that went wrong at Alameda Research, a crypto hedge fund attached to FTX.

The moves Thursday follow bursts across the major averages in the previous session on the heels of a speech by Powell in Washington, in which he signaled US central bank officials may downshift the final interest rate hike of the year later this month to 50 basis points.

“It makes sense to moderate the pace of our rate increases as we approach the level of restraint that will be sufficient to bring inflation down,” Powell said, speaking at the Brookings Institution, as he acknowledged the “uncertain lags” of monetary tightening. “The time for moderating the pace of rate increases may come as soon as the December meeting.”