A visitor walks past Japan’s Nikkei stock prices quotation board inside a building in Tokyo, Japan.  (Reuters Photo)

SINGAPORE- The dollar bounced, long-dated bond yields were up and Asian stocks surged after the Federal Reserve announced a 50-basis-point rate cut and flagged a measured easing cycle ahead, leaving open a path to a soft landing for the US economy.

The S&P 500 hit a record high overnight and although it closed slightly lower, futures rose 1 percent  through the Asia day and Nasdaq futures rose 1 percent . European futures were up 1 percent  and FTSE futures climbed 0.8 percent .

Japan’s Nikkei jumped 2.3 percent  and stock markets in Australia and Indonesia hit record highs, while bets that stimulus was on the way in China drove down Chinese bond yields and sent Hong Kong and mainland equity indexes up.

The Fed lowered its window for the benchmark policy rate by 50 basis points to 4.75 percent -5 percent , where traders had been leaning before the decision. The dollar first fell broadly, hitting a two-and-a-half-year low on sterling, but then recoiled sharply.

“The key was never going to be about 25 or 50, it’s all about the path forward and I think they’ve outlined a view where the economy is still doing pretty well,” said BNZ strategist Jason Wong in Wellington.

“This wasn’t a panicked 50 (bp) cut.”

The dollar was last well off lows on the euro at $1.1127 and steady around 142.70 yen, after climbing as high as 143.95

Ten-year Treasury yields have climbed nearly eight basis points from a day earlier to 3.719 percent , and gold shot to a record high just shy of $2,600 an ounce, before easing back to steady at $2,559.

Policymakers adjusted their median rates projection downwards, bringing them more or less in line with market expectations, but Chair Jerome Powell emphasized flexibility.

“I do not think that anyone should look at this and say, oh, this is the new pace,” Powell told reporters after the outsized cut was announced.

“We’re recalibrating policy down over time to a more neutral level. And we’re moving at the pace that we think is appropriate, given developments in the economy.”