Asian shares rally as markets bet on more gradual rate hikes

U.S. equities, however, rallied this week as comments by Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell led to speculation that rate hikes would begin to slow and eventually turn to rate cuts in 2023. Shares of Amazon and Apple shot up 12% and 3% each after hours after the tech giants reported earnings that beat expectations.

US tech titans stumble after pandemic boom

“When you think about the number of challenges in the quarter, we feel really good about the growth that we put up,” Apple chief executive Tim Cook said on an earnings call. For Apple, product sales tallied $63.4 billion in a drop from the same period a year earlier, but the dip was more than made up for by services revenue that climbed to $19.6 billion, earnings figures showed.

Fed chair Powell is not done telling markets where rates will go

“It’s a very difficult environment to try to give forward guidance 60, 90 days in advance,” Powell said at a press conference after May’s meeting. “There are just so many things that can happen in the economy and around the world. So, you know, we’re leaving ourselves room to look at the data and make a decision as we get there.”