Investing.com - The S&P/ASX 200 lifted 0.3% at Thursday's open following the US Federal Reserve policymakers maintained the cash rates between 5.25-5.5%, resulting in a short-lived spike in US share markets before they eventually closed on a mixed note. Jerome Powell, the Fed's Chairman, indicated that another rate hike is improbable.
The Fed also announced plans to decelerate the pace at which it is running off its balance sheet from June. This process, known as quantitative tightening, involves letting bond holdings roll off its balance sheet without reinvesting them.
The Australian dollar managed to recover some of its significant losses this week, rising by 0.7% following the US Federal Reserve meeting, to trade at $US65.7¢. Oil prices continued their downward slide, with the US benchmark WTI oil falling below $US80 a barrel. Bitcoin also saw a further 4% decline overnight, with its value standing at $US57,840 as of this morning.
In corporate news, National Australia Bank Ltd (ASX:NAB) (NAB) announced an unchanged interim dividend of 84¢ per share. This comes on the back of a modest 1.4% increase in statutory profit to $3.49 billion for the first half ending March 31. The bank also revealed plans to increase its ongoing market share buy-back by $1.5 billion.
On the bond markets, United States 10-Year rates were at 4.635% while Australia 10-Year yields were at 4.539%.