In Asian Equity Markets indices traded lower on Wednesday, following an overnight decline in U.S. stocks as investors worried about rising interest rates and the outlook of the economy. Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 0.58 percent while the Topix index was down 0.39 percent. Shares of Takeda Pharmaceutical fell 6.18 percent after news emerged that the company increased its acquisition offer for London-listed drug-maker Shire, to about 46 billion pounds ($64 billion). In South Korea, the Kospi declined 0.96 percent. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index fell 0.82 percent. Chinese mainland markets were also lower with the Shanghai composite declining by 0.31 percent and the Shenzhen composite was near flat.

In Currency Markets the US dollar inched up on Wednesday, approaching its recent four-month high as the U.S. 10-year bond yield poked above 3 percent to hit its highest level since early 2014. The greenback had risen without pause through much of the past week as U.S.-China trade conflict woes receded and allowed the market to turn its attention back to dollar-supportive fundamentals, notably the jump in U.S. yields. The U.S. currency was 0.1 percent higher at 108.900 yen. The Australian dollar shed 0.2 percent to $0.7586 and in close reach of a four-month trough of $0.7576 plumbed the previous day. The New Zealand dollar extended losses and dipped to $0.7102, its weakest since Jan. 4.

In Commodities Markets oil prices on Wednesday fell back from more than three-year highs reached the previous session as rising U.S. fuel inventories and production weighed on an otherwise bullish market. Brent crude oil futures were at $73.74 per barrel, down 12 cents from their last close and over $1.7 below the November-2014 high of $75.47 a barrel reached the previous day. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures were down 7 cents at $67.63 per barrel. That was also off the late-2014 highs of $69.56 a barrel marked earlier in April. Official weekly U.S. fuel inventory and crude production data will be published on Wednesday by the Energy Information Administration (EIA).

In US Equity Markets stocks slid on Tuesday as 10-year Treasury yields hit the highly anticipated 3 percent mark for the first time in four years, stoking concerns over higher borrowing rates for companies already facing rising costs, and as quarterly results failed to deliver positive outlooks. Technology and industrial stocks weighed on the major indexes on Tuesday, with Alphabet Inc, Facebook Inc, 3M Co and Caterpillar Inc all falling more than 3.5 percent. The S&P 500 lost 1.34 percent, to 2,634.55 and the Nasdaq Composite fell 1.7 percent, to 7,007.35. Other technology stocks in the FAANG group, Facebook, Amazon.com Inc and Netflix Inc, also weighed on the Nasdaq.

In Bond Markets the U.S. benchmark 10-year Treasury yield rose to 3 percent for the first time in more than four years on Tuesday, reflecting the durability of the U.S. economic expansion and stoking views the three-decade-old bull market in bonds is coming to an end. The 2-year yield touched 2.500 percent, which was last seen in September 2008 before subsiding to 2.470 percent, down 0.4 basis point on the day. On the supply front, the Treasury Department sold $32 billion in 2-year notes in mediocre demand at a yield of 2.498 percent, the highest since July 2008. It will offer $35 billion of 5-year securities on Wednesday along with $17 billion in 2-year floating-rate notes.