In Asian Equity Markets stocks were mixed on Wednesday, with markets in Japan and Australia trading moderately higher as trade anxieties lingered in the background. The Nikkei 225 edged higher by 0.47 percent as energy-related names recovered slightly after the last session’s decline. Tech stocks also advanced on the back of gains in their U.S. counterparts overnight, with Advantest up 0.85 percent, while consumer stocks slipped. The broader Topix rose 0.25 percent. Greater China markets, meanwhile, moved in opposite directions. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index advanced 0.45 percent, with technology names contributing to the move higher, while mainland markets eased slightly.

In Currency Markets the euro held firm on Wednesday as investors started to focus on the European Central Bank’s policy meeting next week, while concerns that the United States could pull out of a trade pact with Canada and Mexico hit the peso and the Canadian dollar. The euro traded at $1.1724, having gained about 0.5 percent so far this week and hovering about two cents above its 10-month low of $1.1510 set on May 29. The Canadian dollar and the Mexican peso came under renewed pressure after White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow said on Tuesday that President Donald Trump is considering holding separate talks with Canada and Mexico.

In Commodities Markets global oil prices rose during Asian trade on Wednesday after Venezuela raised the prospect of halting some crude exports, according to people familiar with the matter, but gains were capped amid reports the U.S. government had asked Saudi Arabia and some other OPEC producers to increase output. Brent crude rose 27 cents to $75.65 a barrel after falling to its lowest since May 8 on Tuesday. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were up 29 cents at $65.81 a barrel, having touched a near two-month low on Tuesday. Falling production from Venezuela has contributed to a rally in global oil price Brent to nearly $80 a barrel.

In US Equity Markets the Nasdaq hit a record closing high for the second day in a row on Tuesday, helped by tech and consumer discretionary shares. The S&P 500 gained 0.07 percent, to 2,748.8 and the Nasdaq Composite added 0.41 percent, to 7,637.86. Shares of Amazon, Apple and Netflix all rose. Upbeat economic data also helped the S&P 500 eke out a small gain. Another bright spot was Twitter, whose shares jumped 5.2 percent after the social media company joined the benchmark S&P 500 U.S. index, while Netflix rose 1.2 percent after entering the S&P 100 index. Amgen fell 2.3 percent and pulled the S&P healthcare index lower after Mylan got regulatory approval for a biosimilar.

In Bond Markets U.S. Treasury yields fell on Tuesday as traders piled back into lower-risk government debt after Italy’s new prime minister vowed to enact economic policies that could balloon the nation’s already-heavy debt load. The yield on benchmark 10-year Treasury notes was 2.915 percent, down 2 basis points from late on Monday. It reached a one-week high of 2.946 percent the prior session due to reduced fears about political turmoil in Italy and Spain. Ten-year German yield fell 5 basis points to 0.369 percent.  On the other hand, 10-year Italian yield jumped 21 basis points to 2.773 percent after hitting a one-week low of 2.509 percent on Monday.