Asian markets higher on US FOMC, European futures down ahead of Markit PMI

FXstreet.com (Barcelona) - Most Asian stock indexes edged higher on Thursday due to a dovish FOMC, with the notable exception of South Korea’s Kospi (-0.44%) – headlines of more tension with North Korea - and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng (-0.08%). Leading gains was Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average (+1.34%) as investors priced in one whole day away from the market (bank holiday yesterday). Mainland China’s Shanghai Composite (+0.16%), India’s Bombay Sensitive (+0.78%) and Singapore’s Straits Times (+0.70%) moved higher as well. BoJ Governor Kuroda will make a speech at 09:00 GMT.

Futures for the German DAX 30 (-0.08%) and the French CAC 40 (-0.23%) are signaling a higher opening ahead of Markit manufacturing PMI data in Europe. “The preliminary March PMI data will likely continue to show regional divergence, with the Feb PMI report noting that the gap between German and France is at its widest in the 15y survey history”, wrote TD Securities analyst Alvin Pontoh.