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Wall Street pushes higher and FTSE closes in green as central banks hold interest rates

A look at how the major markets are performing on Thursday

Pedro Goncalves
·Finance Reporter, Yahoo Finance UK
Updated ·2-min read
FTSE WASHINGTON, DC - OCTOBER 14: (L-R) Chair of the U.S. Federal Reserve Jerome Powell talks with Governor of the Bank of England Andrew Bailey during a meeting of the IMFC (International Monetary and Financial Committee) at the IMF and World Bank Annual Meetings at IMF headquarters, October 14, 2022 in Washington, DC. Secretary Yellen will hold a news conference and take questions later in the day. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
FTSE and Wall Street higher as Fed, Bank of England and European Central Bank all kept rates unchanged. (Drew Angerer via Getty Images)

UK and European stocks finished higher on Thursday, with the FTSE 100 temporarily hitting a three-month high, as the Bank of England decided to hold rates at 5.25%. The US Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank have also decided to keep interest rates unchanged.

The FTSE 100 (^FTSE) surged 1.3% to close at 7,649 points, while the CAC 40 (^FCHI) in Paris rose 0.6% to 7,753 points. In Germany, the DAX (^GDAXI) lost earlier gains and finished muted at 16,758.

Read more: Bank of England holds interest rates amid expectations of cuts in 2024

Europe’s Stoxx 600 (^STOXX) rose 0.8%, with rates-sensitive real estate stocks leading the gains.

Across the pond, US stocks rose as investors continued to celebrate a dovish shift by the Federal Reserve that helped propel the Dow to a new all-time closing high.

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Read more: Trending tickers: Apple | Adobe | Pfizer | Currys

The Dow Jones (^DJI) rose 0.3% to 37,193 points. The S&P 500 (^GSPC) climbed 0.3% to 4,722 points and the tech-heavy NASDAQ (^IXIC) gained 0.2% to 14,766.

Wall Street rallied after the Fed on Wednesday said it sees 75 basis points of rate cuts coming in 2024, which accounts for one more rate cut than had been projected in September.

Read more: ECB follows Bank of England and Federal Reserve in pausing interest rates

In Asia, Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 (^N225) lost 0.7% to 32,686 points, while the Hang Seng (^HSI) in Hong Kong rose 0.8% to 16,357. The Shanghai Composite (000001.SS) lost 0.3% to 2,958 points.

The pound (GBPUSD=X) pushed against the dollar, with sterling trading at $1.2768.

Sterling (GBPEUR=X) was also higher against the euro, trading at €1.1610.

Meanwhile, Brent crude (BZ=F) was higher, trading at around $77 per barrel after a bigger-than-expected weekly withdrawal from US crude storage.

Watch: Stocks jump after Fed signals rate cuts are coming

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