Asian Equities Push Higher Post FOMC, Busy Day for Eco Data

Regional Asian equities are higher today, reacting positively to the Fed Reserve's policy decision maintaining its outlook for three rate cuts this year. It's been a busy morning on the data front, with NZ GDP, Japan Trade Balance & PMI, Australia Employment Data, and South Korea Import/Export Data.

• Japan is back from their public holiday on Wednesday, and equities are surging higher up. The yen cheapened on Wednesday, with equites closed they are catching up today, exporters are trading well with data out earlier showing exports growing 7.8% in Feb vs 5.1% expected marking the third straight month of growth for exports. The Nikkei 225 is up1.52% lead by Consumer Discretionary and Tech stocks, while the Topix Bank Index is up 1.73% just above the Topix which is trading 1.61% higher
• South Korean trade data was out earlier showing exports had risen 11.2% in March up from -7.8% in Jan, while imports were -6.3% vs -19.2% in Jan. The Kospi is up 1.54% and now back at the highest levels in almost 2 years. Chip stocks are surging after Micron Technology surged overnight after giving a strong revenue forecast, while the FOMC decision was in line with expectations helping tech stocks.
• Taiwanese equities are also benefiting from the FOMC meeting and high global Chip stocks, the Taiex is up 1.45%. Late on Wednesday Taiwan Export orders missed expectations coming in at -10.4% vs 1.2% expected, export to China and the US were the biggest detractors although some of that can be put down to LNY, while more importantly to Taiwan demand for new tech applications continued to rise, offsetting part of the overall decreases.
• Australian equities are higher today, after employment data showed a massive beat verses expectation coming in at 116.5k vs 40k, with 78.2k of that in full-time work. Financials are the top-performing sector, while healthcare drags. The ASX200 is up about 0.50%
• Elsewhere in SEA, New Zealand GDP missed, coming in at -0.3% vs 0.0% expected, equities are up 0.27%, Singapore Equities are up 0.77%, PSEi up 0.86%, while Malaysian equities are unchanged.