In Asian Equity Markets indices fell on Thursday morning following an overnight decline for stocks on Wall Street. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index fell 1.01% in early trade. The benchmark index closed 1.73% lower on Wednesday, amid violent clashes between protesters and riot police over a controversial extradition bill. Mainland Chinese stocks also declined in early trade, with the Shanghai composite falling 0.31%. Elsewhere, the Nikkei 225 in Japan fell 0.46% in morning trade. The ASX 200 bucked the overall trend as it rose 0.26%.

In Currency Markets the U.S. dollar held its gains early on Thursday after rebounding from 11-week lows, as peers such as the euro, pound and commodity currencies sagged due to troubles of their own. The dollar index versus a basket of six major currencies was steady at 96.957 after rising more than 0.3% overnight. The euro was a shade higher at $1.1293 after retreating 0.35% overnight, while the pound stood little changed at $1.2692 following a loss of 0.3% on Wednesday. The Australian dollar traded near a 12-day low of $0.6925 plumbed on Wednesday, when it shed 0.45%.

In Commodities Markets oil prices steadied on Thursday, after falling as much as 4% in the previous session to nearly five-month lows on the back of a further buildup in U.S. crude stockpiles and worries about lower demand growth. Brent crude futures were up 12 cents, or 0.2%, at 60.09. They fell 3.7% on Wednesday to settle at $59.97 a barrel, the international benchmark’s lowest close since Jan. 28. U.S. WTI crude futures were also 12 cents, or 0.2%, higher at $51.26. They ended 4.0% lower in the previous session at $51.14 a barrel, the lowest close since Jan. 14.

In US Equity Markets indices fell on Wednesday over worries of a prolonged U.S.-China trade war after Washington toughened its stance, but losses were cushioned by a muted reading on inflation that backed the case for an interest rate cut. The S&P 500 was down 0.17%, at 2,880.84 and the Nasdaq Composite fell 0.36%, at 7,794.79. Facebook Inc shares declined 1.93% after the Wall Street Journal reported that the social media giant uncovered emails that appear to show Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg’s connection to potentially problematic privacy practices at the company.

In Bond Markets the U.S. Treasury yield curve was steeper on Wednesday after soft inflation data pulled short-dated yields lower, indicating increased expectations that the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates. The two-year yield, which is a proxy for market expectations of rate cuts, was last 3.3 basis points lower at 1.888%. At the long end, the benchmark 10-year yield was 1.6 basis point lower at 2.124%. The spread between the two- and 10-year yields, the most common measure of the yield curve, rose to 23.7 basis points, from its close Tuesday at 21.3.