Yahoo Finance Wall Street pushes higher as FTSE closes in green amid rate hike pause
A look at how the markets are performing this Thursday
The FTSE 100 and European markets finished higher as investors reacted positively to the Bank of England's decision to keep rates unchanged, which followed the US Federal Reserve's similar announcement the previous day.
The FTSE 100 (^FTSE) rose 1.36% to close at 7,441 points, while the CAC 40 (^FCHI) in Paris climbed 1.84% to 7,060 points. In Germany, the DAX (^GDAXI) advanced 1.45% to 15,138 points.
The Stoxx 600 (STOXX) climbed 1.55%, while all sectors traded in positive territory.
Across the pond, stocks also climbed as investors believe that the Fed is done with its rate-hiking cycle.
Read more: Bank of England holds interest rates at 15-year high
The Dow Jones (^DJI) gained 1.15% to 33,661 points. The S&P 500 (^GSPC) rose 1.47% to 4,300 points and the tech-heavy NASDAQ (^IXIC) climbed 1.33% to 13,237 points.
The Fed opted to maintain its benchmark federal funds rate at a range of between 5.25% and 5.5%.
Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell warned that the US still has a “long way to go” in the battle to get inflation back to 2%.
“Inflation has moderated since the middle of last year and readings over the summer were quite favourable,” he said.
But he added: “A few months of good data are only the beginning of what it will take to build confidence that inflation is moving down sustainably toward our goal. The process of getting inflation sustainably down to 2% has a long way to go.”
When asked about a previous projection by the central bank for one more rate hike this year, Powell noted that the Summary of Economic Projections is "not a promise or plan of the future."
Read more: Bank of England set to keep UK interest rates on hold
In Asia, Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 (^N225) gained 1.10% to 31,949 points, while the Hang Seng (^HSI) in Hong Kong rose 0.78% to 17,235. The Shanghai Composite (000001.SS) closed in the red, slipping 0.45% to 3,009 points.
Meanwhile, Brent crude (BZ=F) rose as the Middle East turmoil continues and was trading at around $86 (£70)/barrel.
Back in London, the Bank of England followed the European Central Bank and the Fed and kept interest rates unchanged this month.
Looking at the FTSE 100, Shell (SHEL.L) shares were up after the oil giant said announced a $3.5bn share buyback as quarterly profits hit $6.2bn (£5.1bn).
Sainsbury’s (SBRY.L) shares also gave the FTSE 100 a boost after the supermarket retailer said it held underlying pre-tax profits firm at £340m in the six months to September 16 in the face of rising costs and intense competition on prices across the sector.
On a statutory basis, pre-tax profits fell 27% to £275m from £376m a year ago, when results were buoyed by income from a legal settlement.
Watch: Federal Reserve leaves interest rates unchanged, though experts still foresee hikes
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