OVERNIGHT

The Fed spoke today in the week of central banks.

What the Fed said wasn't lost on Asian currencies as many of them rallied to multi-month highs, the WSJ reported.

Several Asian currencies moved to multimonth highs and the Chinese yuan jumped in early trading Thursday, after the U.S. Federal Reserve lowered its expectations for the pace of interest-rate increases during the rest of 2016.

The Australian dollar and the Singapore dollar rose to eight-month highs against their U.S. counterpart, with the Aussie strengthening 1.8% to 0.7592 compared with yesterday’s close in London.

The Singapore dollar moved 1.3% firmer to 1.3635 against its U.S. counterpart versus the London close and the Korean won hit its strongest level all year, last gaining 1.6% to 1,173.0. The Thai baht and Malaysian ringgit also hit their strongest levels in more than seven months.

After the Fed’s decision to keep rates on hold, the People’s Bank of China set its daily yuan reference rate against the U.S. dollar at 6.4961, a level 0.3% firmer than the previous day. The offshore yuan trading in Hong Kong strengthened 0.1% to 6.4920 in response.

A weaker dollar could put further pressure on Asian countries that are already experiencing a slowdown in growth. As the value of their currencies rises, it makes it harder for some of the region’s export-dependent economies to grow.

Over in the equities markets Asian shares rallied as the dollar took a hit owing to Fed's suppose decision to invoke  on two rate hikes this year. Emerging markets and oil gained too in light of less competition from a once-expected stronger dollar and higher interest rates.

The Nikkei rallied 1.4% in spite of the stronger yen. Australian shares eged 0.8% higher, the KOSPI was up 1.2%. In China, the Shanghai Composite Index SHCOMP, +1.07%  was up 0.4%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index HSI, +1.19% rose 1.6%.

Oil and iron ore longtime orphans both rose on the Fed comments. Gold fell 0.2% to $1,259.61  after it's jump Wednesday. Copper jumped 1.5%..