Investing.com - Here are the top five things you need to know in financial markets on Thursday, March 16:
1. Dollar attempts slight recovery after Fed-inspired losses
The dollar attempted a slight rebound on Thursday, after tumbling to one-month lows against the other major currencies in wake of the Federal Reserve's cautious stance on the future pace of rate hikes.
The Fed on Wednesday raised its benchmark interest rate by 25 basis points in a widely-expected move, but stuck to its projection for two more hikes this year. Heading into the meeting, markets had braced for a potentially more hawkish tone from the Fed.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was at 100.56 at 5:55AM ET (09.55GMT), after touching overnight lows of 100.25, the weakest since February 9.
2. Global stocks rally on Fed's "dovish hike"
U.S. stock market futures pointed to a higher open on Thursday morning, extending strong gains from the prior session after the Federal Reserve raised interest rates, but struck a more dovish tone than expected.
In Europe, stocks rallied 1% in mid-morning trade, with London's FTSE100 touching an all-time high.
Earlier, in Asia, markets ended broadly higher, with the Shanghai Composite in China closing up around 0.9%, while Japan's Nikkei ended little changed.
3. Dutch voters rebuff Wilders in election
Exit polls showed that Dutch nationalist Geert Wilders' right-wing Freedom Party, which threatened to take the Netherlands out of the European Union and stop Muslim immigration, won fewer seats than expected in Dutch elections.
With more than 90% of votes counted, Prime Minister Mark Rutte’s Liberal Party was projected to take 33 seats in the 150-seat lower house of parliament to 20 seats for the anti-EU Freedom Party.
The results soothed fears over the strength of populist sentiment in the euro zone ahead of French elections next month.
The euro climbed to a five-week high of 1.0746 against the dollar, before pulling back to 1.0711 (EUR/USD).
4. Bank of England caps off busy day for central banks
The Bank of England will announce its rate decision at 12:00GMT (8:00AM ET) on Thursday, with analysts expecting no change in policy as the U.K. prepares to kick off divorce proceedings with the European Union.
Earlier in the day, the Swiss National Bank left its benchmark interest rate unchanged at record-low levels and reiterated that it is still prepared to take further action to weaken the franc.
In Asia, the Bank of Japan held monetary policy steady and maintained a positive view on the economy, signaling that no expansion of monetary stimulus was due in the near-future.
And the People's Bank of China raised its short-term interest rate by 10 basis points, in what economists said was a bid to stave off capital outflows and keep the yuan currency stable. It was the third hike in three months.
5. Trump Administration to release White House budget
President Donald Trump will ask the U.S. Congress for dramatic cuts to many federal programs as he seeks to bulk up defense spending, start building a wall on the border with Mexico and spend more money deporting illegal immigrants.
A blueprint on Trump's budget plan, due at 7:00AM ET (11:00GMT), is seen boosting defense outlays by $54 billion while cutting the same amount from non-defense programs.
To achieve that goal, Budget Director Mick Mulvaney says the budget will request, for example, cuts of 28% in State Department spending and roughly 31% in the Environmental Protection Agency.