The force awakens tomorrow as the Federal Reserve concludes its last policy meeting of the year. Global markets are standing still at the moment, eagerly anticipating a decision to raise interest rates in the US – for the first time since June 2006. A quiet-ish session overnight ad profit taking and position squaring comes to define markets in the days leading up to a marquee calendar event – this one being the last of the year.
Despite a strong North American close on Monday, equities in Asia were a sea of red today. Optimistic RBA minutes supported the Australian and New Zealand dollars, which found a bit of support as oil prices recovered after a scary dip below $35 per barrel. While the Reserve Bank of Australia refrained from cutting rates at the last policy meeting, general concern suggests they remain prepared to do so again at some point. There were no new surprises in the minutes though, as slowing Chinese growth and low commodity income remain at the top of the list of concerns.
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