The US Federal Reserve announced their decision to hold interest rates at current levels, pushing global stock markets into positive territory.

As expected by many analysts, Fed Chair Janet Yellen kept rates on hold, saying: “The economy has a little more room to run than might have been previously thought. That’s good news….We don’t see the economy is overheating now.”

However, the Fed are running out of excuses not to raise rates and it seems increasingly likely the majority of policymakers will vote for a rise at their December meeting.

The DOW Jones rose to a 10-day high after the announcement on Wednesday, with the S&P 500 up almost 1 percent.

The FTSE 100 opened into positive territory on Thursday, currently up 52.17 points to 6886.88 (1015GMT). Asian shares also reacted positively, sending the Shanghai Composite up 0.54 percent and the Nikkei 225 up 1.91 percent.

22/09/2016