In European Equity Markets the pan-European STOXX 600 extended losses to close down 0.98 percent, with almost all sectors ending the day in negative territory. All major bourses posted solid losses, with the U.K.’s FTSE 100 slipping 1.05 percent, France’s CAC 40 falling 0.64 percent and Germany’s DAX declining 1.59 percent. Insurance finished the session down 1.36 percent amid earnings news. Hannover Rueck slipped to the bottom of the sector after posting full-year results. Shares of the German reinsurer closed down 4.2 percent. E.ON jumped 3.87 percent, after the company said it would submit a 5.2 billion euro ($6.4 billion) voluntary takeover offer for minority shareholders in Innogy.

In Currency Markets the US dollar fell against most major currencies on Tuesday after U.S. inflation data for February came in line with expectations, suggesting the Federal Reserve remained on track to raise interest rates at a gradual pace. The dollar also lost traction after U.S. President Donald Trump fired Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and replaced him with Central Intelligence Agency Director Mike Pompeo, marking the biggest shakeup of the administration’s Cabinet. In midmorning trading, the dollar index fell 0.1 percent to 89.809, as the euro gained 0.2 percent on the day to $1.2363. The greenback, however, did well against the yen, rising 0.5 percent to 106.90.

In Commodities Markets oil rose after Donald Trump fired Secretary of State Rex Tillerson on Tuesday, sparking a dollar fall and concern that a deal on Iran’s nuclear program could collapse. The U.S. President is replacing Tillerson with loyalist CIA Director Mike Pompeo, an outspoken critic of Iran, who has called for a 2015 nuclear deal to be scrapped. Brent crude futures were up 41 cents at $65.36 a barrel, off an earlier low of $64.35, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were up 34 cents at $61.70 a barrel. Both crude benchmarks fell by around 1 percent on Monday after the U.S. Energy Information Administration said output from the shale basin would hit a new record high in April.

In US Equity Markets losses in technology and energy stocks on Tuesday weakened indices strong opening gains following U.S. consumer price data that eased worries about rising inflation. All the three main indexes were lower in mid-day trading, weighed down by a near 2 percent decline in shares of Microsoft, Facebook and Alphabet. The S&P 500 was down 0.36 percent, at 2,772.79 and the Nasdaq Composite was down 0.74 percent, at 7,532.47. Among stocks, General Electric fell about 4 percent after JPMorgan cut its price target on the stock to $11 from $14, saying the industrial conglomerate was not a“safety stock” in a volatile market.

In Bond Markets The U.S. Treasury Department on Tuesday sold $65 billion worth of one-month debt at interest rate of 1.650 percent, which was the highest rate at an auction of this T-bill maturity since August 2008. The ratio of bids to the amount offered was 2.58, the lowest in three weeks. This measure of overall auction demand was 3.01 at last week’s one-month bill sale. Meanwhile the yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note was 2.852 percent, down from 2.870 percent at Monday’s close. The two-year note, which is particularly sensitive to Fed interest rate policy, was down to 2.258 percent, below its last close at 2.266 percent.