Market Commentary: Wednesday 17th September

Asian stock markets experienced volatility as investors awaited the Federal Reserve’s interest rate decision, with expectations of a potential cut for the first time this year.

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index stabilized after early losses, while Chinese tech stocks—particularly Baidu and Alibaba—soared on AI-driven optimism and analyst upgrades, with Baidu jumping as much as 18% and Alibaba rising 5.7%.

The dollar remained steady after recent declines, gold hit a record high above $3,700 an ounce, and Japanese bonds rallied on strong demand at a 20-year debt sale.

Investors focused on the Fed’s meeting, with money markets pricing in a quarter-point rate cut and anticipating further reductions, hoping for a dovish outlook to support growth without triggering a recession.

Bitcoin was little changed at $116,997.06.
Ether was little changed at $4,499.64.
Gold fell 0.3% to $3,678.29.
Crude fell 0.1% to $64.43.

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