The Palestinian death toll from ongoing Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip has risen to 41,272, Gaza-based health authorities said in a statement on Wednesday.
During the past 24 hours, the Israeli military killed 20 people and wounded 54 others, bringing the fatalities to 41,272 and injuries to 95,551 since this round of conflict broke out in early October 2023, it added.
Gaza’s civil defense agency reported on Wednesday that eight persons, including five children, were killed when Israeli bombed a school-turned-shelter for displaced Palestinians in Gaza City in the northern part of the war-ridden enclave, which also caused many injuries.
The Israeli military said in a statement that the airstrike targeted Hamas militants hidden inside the school.
In addition, an Israeli drone struck a civilian car in Rafah city in the southern Gaza Strip on Wednesday, killing two people and injuring 11 others, according to Palestinian security sources.
Israel announced on the same day that four more soldiers were killed in clashes in Rafah.
Palestinian death toll in Gaza rises to 41,272 as conflict grinds on
U.S. stocks ended lower while Asian shares gained after the U.S. Federal Reserve announced a 0.5-percentage-point interest rate cut on Wednesday.
U.S. stocks ended lower on Wednesday after the Fed's rate cut. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 103.08 points, or 0.25 percent, to 41,503.1. The Nasdaq Composite Index shed 54.76 points, or 0.31 percent, to 17,573.3. The S and P 500 sank 16.32 points, or 0.29 percent, to 5,618.26.
In Chinese security markets, A-share investors were more receptive to the Fed's rate, hoping it might lead to a similar move by the People's Bank of China. The Shanghai Composite Index gained almost 0.7 percent on Thursday, while the Shenzhen Component Index surged by about 1.2 percent.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index climbed 2 percent on Thursday.
Japan's Nikkei rose by 2.13 percent on Thursday, while in South Korea, the Kospi turned positive with a modest gain of 0.17 percent.
The U.S. Fed cut interest rates by 50 basis points on Wednesday, bringing the benchmark interest rate to a range of 4.75 percent to 5 percent, the first rate cut in four years.
In its policy statement, the Fed said the decision reflected greater confidence that inflation is moving sustainably toward 2 percent and that it judges the risks to achieving its employment and inflation goals are roughly in balance.
In addition to the U.S. Federal Reserve, multiple central banks and monetary authorities have either decided or will announce their interest rate decisions on Wednesday and Thursday.
The Central Bank of Brazil moved in the opposite direction to the Fed on Wednesday, raising interest rates by 25 basis points to 10.75 percent. It was the first interest rate hike in two years to tackle emerging inflation risks.
On Thursday, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority slashed its base rate by 50 basis points to 5.25 percent.
Norway's central bank, Norges Bank, has kept the policy rate at 4.5 percent as policymakers agreed a restrictive monetary policy is still needed to bring inflation down to target.
The Bank of England is set to announce its interest rate decision on Thursday. The market expects policymakers to hold rates steady amid persisting inflation pressure.
That is also the case for the Central Bank of Türkiye as it awaits further evidence of an improvement in inflation.
The South Africa Reserve Bank is expected to cut rates for the first time in four years as inflation in August fell to its lowest in more than three years.
Wall Street reacts coldly while Asian shares gain after Fed rate cut
