Most stocks rise as Fed hikes and indicates drive to curb inflation

And Christian Scherrmann at DWS added: “Overall, we believe the main motivation this time was credibility, given bond market pricing and recent developments in oil markets.”

Still, he added: “Despite his hawkish stance, Fed Chair Warsh’s optimistic outlook on the economy may be music to many ears.”

Equity markets across Asia were mostly higher in early trade.

Tokyo, Seoul, Singapore, Taipei, Wellington and Jakarta all advanced, though Hong Kong and Shanghai dipped.

However, Tai Hui, of JP Morgan Asset Management, warned: “We think the chance of US policy rates returning to above 5 per cent is still limited.

“Nonetheless, a catalyst to extend the equity bull market (lower interest rates) is looking unlikely in the foreseeable future.”

The news angered Trump, who called Warsh a “good man” who had “a hostile board”.

“They’re raising the rates to make Trump do as bad as they can possibly do … So they’re raising that only for political reasons, and that’s a raise against Trump,” he complained.

While the Middle East crisis continues to weigh heavily on sentiment and oil prices above US$100 a barrel, investors took some cheer from reports that Saudi Arabia is looking to return about half the capacity of its cross-country oil pipeline within days.

The East-West conduit was shut last week after Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthis targeted it.

State-run Saudi Aramco said it was looking to get back up to full capacity in about six weeks, Bloomberg cited sources as saying.

The news sent crude prices tumbling around 3 per cent Wednesday, and they extended the losses Thursday.

The Fed hike and Warsh’s remarks also pushed the dollar higher against its peers and held the gains in early trade.

Eyes are now on decisions by the central banks of Britain and Japan, with the latter also expected to hike as it looks to fend off a rise in inflation and a weaker yen.