KONTAN.CO.ID - JAKARTA. Investors can now breathe a sigh of relief as the United States Federal Reserve's (The Fed) interest rate direction becomes clearer. On Wednesday (22/3) local time, The Fed raised its benchmark interest rate by 0.25% to 4.75%-5% and stated that it may only need one more rate hike this year, projecting a rate level of 5.1% by the end of 2023. The interest rates are then predicted to remain stagnant or even fall back to 4.1% in 2024.

According to Nicodimus Kristiantoro, the Research & Consulting Manager of Infovesta Utama, this increase in interest rates was in line with consensus expectations and realized interest rates were lower than the market projections before the emergence of the Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) case, which reached 50 bps. This development may help reduce market anxiety regarding The Fed's interest rates. However, there are still concerns that the increase in interest rates will put pressure on bank liquidity, as experienced by SVB, causing the majority of Asian markets to respond negatively to The Fed's decision to raise interest rates. US banking stocks also fell.

Despite the uncertainties in the market, investors can take advantage of the situation to average down when the market is corrected, maximizing their investment returns. Senior Vice President, Head of Retail, Product Research & Distribution Division of Henan Putihrai Asset Management, Reza Fahmi Riawan, estimates that JCI will test the 6,700 resistance and advance to 6,800-6,900 soon. At the end of 2023, JCI could reach 7,400 to 7,700. However, Nicodimus Kristiantoro advises investors to be cautious of other market sentiments, such as the risk of geopolitical conflict and global inflation uncertainty.