Equities supported by dovish Fed, corporate earnings

Most of the markets continued in their medium-term trends on Thursday, with stocks and oil trading higher, while the USD fell. 

The Fed reiterated (as was widely expected) that it sees inflation as only transitory. Fed Chairman Jerome Powell continued to signal that the central bank was in no rush to tighten its ultra-loose monetary policy in the following press conference. Despite vaccine rollouts and fiscal stimulus bolstering the country’s economic recovery.

That means the current 120 billion USD QE will most likely continue for many more months, being a bullish impetus for stock markets. 

Equity indices were also boosted by solid corporate results from Facebook and Apple, which drove the benchmarks higher during the Asian session. 

Later today, the euro zone’s industrial production will be released, along with the business climate index. Additionally, German CPIs are due.

However, the most volatility should come after the US GDP data, with markets anticipating a 6.1% annualized growth in Q1, up from 4.3% in the last quarter of 2020. Finally, pending home sales will be released, together with US jobless claims. 

Source: https://www.axiory.com/market-news/equities-supported-by-dovish-fed-corporate-earnings