- Retegui hat-trick fires five-star Atalanta to hammering of Genoa
- Heavyweights Australia, England off to World Cup winning starts
- Visiting UN refugee agency chief decries 'terrible crisis' in Lebanon
- Spinners come to party as England defeat Bangladesh at T20 World Cup
- Search continues for missing in deadly Bosnia floods
- Man City sink Fulham to get title bid back on track
- France's Auradou whistled on Pau return in Perpignan loss amid ongoing rape case
- A 'forgotten' valley in storm-hit North Carolina, desperate for help
- Arsenal hit back in style after Southampton scare
- Hezbollah heir apparent Safieddine out of contact after strikes
- Liverpool stay top of Premier League as Arsenal, Man City win
- In dank Tour of Emilia, Pogacar shines in rainbow jersey
- DR Congo launches mpox vaccination drive, hoping to curb outbreak
- Trump returns to site of failed assassination
- Careless Leverkusen held to Bundesliga draw
- O'Brien's 'superstar' Kyprios posts landmark win on Arc weekend
- Liverpool suffer Alisson injury blow
- Habosi helps Racing beat Vannes before Auradou's playing return
- Thousands march in London in support of Palestinians, 1 year after Oct 7
- Israel readying response to Iran missile attack
- Schutt, Mooney help Australia beat Sri Lanka in Women's T20 World Cup
- Liverpool extend Premier League lead with win at Palace
- Djokovic 'shakes rust off' to make third round of Shanghai Masters
- 'Imperfect' PSG fighting on all fronts - Luis Enrique
- Struggling Pakistan look to thwart adaptable England
- Child 'trampled to death' in asylum seekers' Channel crossing: minister
- Gauff fights back to set up Beijing final against Muchova
- Guardiola claims Premier League won't delay season for Man City
- Israel to mark October 7 attack as Gaza war spreads
- Gauff fights back to reach China Open final
- Recovering Stokes ruled out of first Pakistan Test
- Hezbollah battles troops on border as Israel pounds Lebanon
- Alcaraz, Sinner breeze into third round of Shanghai Masters
- Bagnaia wins Japan MotoGP sprint to cut Martin's lead
- Alcaraz breezes into third round of Shanghai Masters
- Gaza cultural heritage brought to light in Geneva
- 'Bullet for democracy': Trump returns to site of rally shooting
- Italy targets climate activists in 'anti-Gandhi' demo clampdown
- South Korean cult-horror series 'Hellbound' returns at BIFF
- Nepalis fear more floods as climate change melts glaciers
- Honduras arrests environmentalist's alleged murderer
- Padres pitcher Musgrove needs elbow surgery
- Supreme Court lets stand rules to curb mercury, methane emissions
- Boston beat Denver in NBA exhibition season opener, but Jokic says omens are good
- Chagos diaspora angry at lack of input on islands' fate
- Biden says 'not confident' of peaceful US election
- US trade chief defends tariff hikes when paired with investment
- Lukaku stars as Napoli beat Como to hold Serie A top spot
- Ohtani set for MLB playoff debut as Dodgers face Padres
- Pogba's drug ban cut to 18 months from four years
Asian markets rise as Fed eases fears over huge rate hike
US central bank officials announced an expected half-point lift in borrowing costs -- the biggest since 2000 -- as part of its battle to rein in inflation, while unveiling a timetable to offload its vast bond holdings.
However, traders were given some much-needed cheer when boss Jerome Powell said a 75 basis-point rise, which had been flagged by many observers, was not "not something the committee is actively considering".
While he flagged more 50-point hikes to come, the news fuelled a rally on Wall Street, where all three main indexes piled on around three percent thanks to a surge in tech firms, which are most susceptible to higher rates.
"This was a reflection of relief, as investors came into the meeting fearful that the committee would be overly aggressive in tightening monetary policy," said Clara Cheong, of JP Morgan Asset Management.
She added that if inflation began showing signs of slowing, it could allow the Fed to be less aggressive as it treads a fine line between containing prices and nurturing the pandemic economic recovery.
"It remains to be seen if the Fed can pull off this fine balancing act and orchestrate a soft landing, but for now we believe that the US economy is in a strong enough position to weather higher rates," Cheong said.
"There is still, however, a risk that an overly aggressive approach can run the risk of tipping the economy into a mild recession in 2023."
The gains in New York filtered through to Asia, where Shanghai advanced after returning from a long break while Hong Kong, Sydney, Singapore, Taipei, Manila and Wellington were also up.
"Removing some of the uncertainty is helpful in getting some of the cash that has been on the sideline back into the markets, whether it's bonds or equities," Erin Gibbs, of Main Street Asset Management, told Bloomberg Television.
The Fed hike was the latest by a central bank around the world and comes ahead of an expected lift by the Bank of England later Thursday.
Still, analysts warned there was only so much banking officials could do to bring inflation under control as the spike was also being fuelled by supply chain problems caused by China's Covid-related lockdowns and surging energy costs, particularly oil.
And crude extended Wednesday's big gains after the European Commission proposed a gradual ban on Russian crude over Moscow's invasion of Ukraine.
That was compounded by data showing stockpiles shrinking and a weaker dollar caused by lower expectations for US rate hikes.
"The oil market will remain tight going forward, and now that a peak in the dollar is in place, crude prices should have extra support here," said OANDA's Edward Moya.
- Key figures at around 0230 GMT -
Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: UP 1.1 percent at 21,094.52
Shanghai - Composite: UP 0.7 percent at 3,067.58
Tokyo - Nikkei 225: Closed for a holiday
Brent North Sea crude: UP 0.1 percent at $110.27 per barrel
West Texas Intermediate: UP 0.1 percent at $107.91 per barrel
Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.0619 from $1.0625 on Wednesday
Pound/dollar: DOWN at $1.2623 from $1.2632
Euro/pound: UP at 84.13 pence from 84.06 pence
Dollar/yen: UP at 129.23 yen from 129.05 yen
New York - Dow: UP 2.8 percent at 34,061.06 (close)
London - FTSE 100: DOWN 0.9 percent at 7,493.45 (close)
Nogueira--PC