In European Equity Markets stocks closed lower Thursday, after the U.S. said it would impose tariffs on steel and aluminum imports from the European Union, Canada and Mexico. The pan-European Stoxx 600 shed gains from earlier in the session, closing down 0.63 percent, with most sectors in negative territory and major bourses mixed. Germany’s 30-stock DAX index was among the worst performing bourses in Europe, down 1.4 percent. Autos stocks fell on the news, with Porsche and Groupe PSA both dropping over 2 percent.

In Currency Markets the U.S. dollar was pushed lower on Thursday as the euro rallied on news that Italian parties made last-ditch efforts to form a government and avert snap elections, going some way towards easing concerns about a political crisis in the euro zone’s third-largest economy. The euro strengthened against the dollar on Thursday, climbing half a percent to a three-day high of $1.1724, after having risen 1.1 percent the previous day, its second-biggest daily gain this year. It hit a 10-month low of $1.1510 on Tuesday.

In Commodities Markets brent crude prices reversed earlier losses to hit their biggest premium to U.S. futures in over three years on Thursday, as the prospect of more inventory increases weighed heavily on West Texas Intermediate prices. Brent crude futures had risen 70 cents on the day to $78.42 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude was down $1.1 to $67.11 a barrel. That pushed the premium of Brent to WTI beyond $11 a barrel, the largest since March 2015. That spread has doubled in less than a month, as a lack of pipeline capacity in the United States has trapped a lot of output inland.

In US Equity Markets stocks fell on Thursday after the United States decided to impose metal import tariffs on Canada, Mexico and the European Union, sparking fresh concerns of a trade war with its top allies. Shares of Boeing fell 1.1 percent and Caterpillar declined 1.2 percent. The stocks were among the biggest drag on the Dow Jones Industrials. The S&P 500 was down 8.97 points, or 0.33 percent, at 2,715.04 and the Nasdaq Composite was up 5.23 points, or 0.07 percent, at 7,467.68. Ten of the 11 major index groups were trading lower with the technology stocks the only gainer.

In Bond Markets Italy’s borrowing costs fell sharply for a second day on Thursday as news that one of Japan’s largest institutional investors is looking to buy short-dated Italian debt helped stabilize a market battered by a political crisis in Rome. Japan Post Insurance Co’s chief investment officer told Reuters the firm, also known as Kampo, is looking to buy short-term Italian government bonds after the recent sell-off made them inexpensive. Italy’s 2-year bond yield was down 73 basis points in late trade at 1.26 percent on Thursday, comfortably below 5-year highs touched this week at around 2.7 percent.