singapore asiapacific markets were set to rise on thursday tracking us stocks after the federal reserve raised benchmark interest rates 75 basis points in a move that equates to the most aggressive hike since 1994 in japan markets the nikkei futures contract in chicago was at 26700 while its counterpart in osaka was at 26530 higher than the nikkei 225s last close at 2632616 in australia spi futures were at 6622 higher than the spasx 200s last close at 6601 following the rate hike in the us wall street was volatile but market indexes rose to session highs after the federal open market committee took the level of its benchmark funds rate to a range of 15175 the highest since just before the covid pandemic began in march 2020 fed chairman jerome powell also said during his afternoon press conference that either a 50 basis point or a 75 basis point increase seems most likely at our next meeting