MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose to a more than four-year high early on Tuesday and last traded 0.3% higher

Asia stocks jumped on Tuesday while the dollar was on the back foot as investors bet the U.S. central bank would resume its easing cycle this week and potentially leave the door open to further rate cuts.

Markets hardly reacted to news that the U.S. Senate narrowly confirmed Stephen Miran to the bank’s Board of Governors while a U.S. appeals court separately declined to allow President Donald Trump to fire central bank Governor Lisa Cook.

Both moves were seen as unlikely to shift the needle for the bank’s decision on Wednesday, where a 25-basis-point cut is fully priced in.

There are certainly concerns around the politicisation of the bank and President Trump’s pressure to try to sort of, I guess, stack the board, said Tony Sycamore, a market analyst at IG.

But I think a 25-basis-point cut still remains in place, he added.

Expectations of imminent rate cuts have kept the market mood buoyant over the past few sessions and sent stocks scaling new highs.

MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose to a more than four-year high early on Tuesday and last traded 0.3% higher, while Nikkei and Topix indexes hit new records.

Just as important for markets will be guidance from bank Chair Jerome Powell on the extent and pace of any further easing.

Futures already have 127 bps worth of cuts priced in by July 2026, so anything less than dovish will disappoint investors.

There do seem to be quite a few rate cuts priced in now. On balance, maybe that suggests that the bar for a hawkish surprise is a little lower than that for a dovish one, said Thomas Mathews, head of markets for Asia Pacific at Capital Economics.

It’s likely though that the bank will stick with its cautious communication approach and not give much away, he added.

EUROSTOXX 50 futures dropped 0.09% while FTSE futures added 0.08%.

Nasdaq futures were flat while S&P 500 futures slipped 0.02%, after both indexes hit all-time highs in the cash session overnight.