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| Asian stock markets rise on Federal Reserve move | Asian stock markets rise on Federal Reserve move |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Asian stock markets have risen after the US Federal Reserve's commitment to keep interest rates low cushioned the impact of its decision to scale back its stimulus programme. | Asian stock markets have risen after the US Federal Reserve's commitment to keep interest rates low cushioned the impact of its decision to scale back its stimulus programme. |
| Stock indexes in Japan, South Korea and Australia all rose. | |
| The US central bank said it planned to scale back its $85bn (£51.8bn) a month bond-buying programme by $10bn a month. | |
| Analysts said the taper was less than markets had expected, which helped boost investor morale. | |
| Scott Clemons, chief investment strategist for Brown Brothers Harriman Wealth Management, said the move indicated the central bank was in no rush to remove the stimulus. | Scott Clemons, chief investment strategist for Brown Brothers Harriman Wealth Management, said the move indicated the central bank was in no rush to remove the stimulus. |
| "The Fed is using a very careful language that they are going to continue to support the economy," he said. | "The Fed is using a very careful language that they are going to continue to support the economy," he said. |
| "That's part of the reason why the stock market is rallying." | "That's part of the reason why the stock market is rallying." |
| Japan's Nikkei 225 index rose 1.6%, Australia's ASX 200 was up 1.5% and South Korea's Kospi gained 0.5%. | |
| This followed overnight gains in the US markets. The Dow Jones surged to close up 292.71 points, or 1.84%. Both the Nasdaq and S&P 500 indexes were up over 1% as well. | |
| 'Economy is healing' | |
| The programme, called quantitative easing, was introduced by the US central bank after the global financial crisis. | |
| The main objective was to increase the money supply and improve liquidity in the financial system in the hope of sparking economic growth and supporting employment. | |
| The Fed's governing committee cited stronger job growth as a reason for the decision to begin winding down the programme. | |
| It forecast the unemployment rate would fall to 6.3% in 2014 from its current level of 7%. | |
| Analysts said the Fed's decision to scale back the programme also indicated that it was confident of a sustained recovery in the US economy. | |
| "It is fodder for possibly better markets because it affirms the economy is healing," said Erik Davidson, deputy chief investment officer at Wells Fargo Private Bank. | |
| Data released last month showed that the US economy grew at an annual pace of 2.8% in the third quarter of the year. | |
| The growth rate was faster than expected, and was an improvement on the 2.5% pace seen in the previous quarter. | |
| A pick up in the US economy - the world's largest - is likely to provide a boost to many Asian economies which rely heavily on exports to the US for their growth. |