Investors piled back into equities on Thursday, buoyed by the prospect of more rate cuts as soon as May after the US Federal Reserve appeared more willing to lower borrowing costs than some in the market had expected.

Wall Street rallied, sending the S&P 500 up over 1 per cent, stocks advanced across Asia, with the MSCI regional stock benchmark climbing to its highest level since early November, while Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 jumped the most in six weeks.