In Asian Equity Markets stocks managed a semblance of calm on Thursday as the U.S. Fed signalled it was in no rush to taper stimulus, though the mood was fragile as investors waited to see if Beijing could stem the recent bloodletting in Chinese shares. Gains were tentative with blue-chip shares up 1.4 percent, but still down more than 5 percent for the week, while the Shanghai Composite Index added 1.1 percent. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan bounced 1.1 percent. Japan’s Nikkei edged up 0.4 percent, while South Korea was flat.

In Currency Markets the dollar was down on Thursday morning in Asia, remaining around a two-week low. The U.S. currency was weighed down by the latest insistence from U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell that interest rate hikes are not forthcoming. The U.S. Dollar Index edged down 0.17 percent to 92.157. Against the Japanese yen, the dollar inched down 0.10 percent to 109.78. The Aussie inched up 0.03 percent to $0.7378, with an extended lockdown in Sydney set to put a dent on both the Australian economic recovery and the risker Australian dollar.

In US Equity Markets the S&P 500 ended little changed on Wednesday but off its session lows after the Fed said the U.S. economic recovery remains on track and Chair Jerome Powell said the central bank was still a ways away from considering raising interest rates. The Dow fell 0.36 percent, to 34,930.93, the S&P 500 lost 0.02 percent, to 4,400.64 and the Nasdaq Composite added 0.7 percent, to 14,762.58. Shares of Apple Inc fell 1.2 percent after it forecast slowing revenue growth. Microsoft Corp fell 0.1 percent even as a boom in cloud services helped it beat Wall Street expectations for revenue and earnings.

In Commodities Markets gold prices on Wednesday shook off initial declines to move higher after a U.S. Fed policy statement as chair Jerome Powell flagged lingering risks to the U.S. economy from the Delta coronavirus variant. Spot gold rose 0.1 percent at $1,801.10 per ounce, while silver rose 0.7 percent to $24.84. Palladium gained 0.6 percent to $2,623.53 and platinum advanced 0.8 percent to $1,059.00. Oil prices rose as industry data showed U.S. crude and product inventories fell more sharply than expected last week. U.S. crude rose 0.73 percent to $72.17 per barrel and Brent was at $74.74, up 0.35 percent on the day.

In European Equity Markets stocks gained on Wednesday as encouraging earnings reports from British bank Barclays and luxury group Kering helped investors look past worries about China’s regulatory crackdown that kept markets on edge this week. The pan-European STOXX 600 index rose 0.7 percent after two sessions of declines. Barclays rose 2.0 percent as it announced resumption of shareholder payouts after beating first-half profit expectations, while German lender Deutsche Bank edged up after it delivered a better-than-expected quarterly profit.

In Bond Markets U.S. Treasury yields fell on Wednesday after the Federal Reserve flagged ongoing discussions around the eventual withdrawal of monetary policy support but gave no details on when it is likely to reduce bond purchases. Benchmark 10-year yields fell to 1.228 percent, after briefly rising to a session high of 1.278 percent immediately after the statement. Breakeven rates on five-year Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities, a measure of expected annual inflation for the next five years, rose to 2.63 percent.