In Asian Equity Markets stocks steadied on Wednesday after three sessions of losses as investors awaited any hints about faster tightening of monetary policy from the U.S. Federal Reserve later in the day. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan fell 0.1 percent on Wednesday. Japan’s Nikkei pared some early losses to trade 0.37 percent lower, hovering around its lowest level since Dec. 2020. China’s blue-chip index reversed earlier gains to slide 0.33 percent to its lowest since October 2020, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index was down 0.3 percent.

In Currency Markets the euro hovered near its weakest in a month versus the safe-haven dollar and yen on Wednesday as traders fretted over a potential military conflict in Ukraine and the possibility of accelerated Federal Reserve policy tightening. The euro was about flat at $1.1303 after falling to $1.1264 overnight for the first time since Dec. 21. The dollar index was flat at 95.973. Elsewhere, sterling was little changed at $1.35095 after falling to a more than three-week low of $1.3436 overnight. The risk-sensitive Australian dollar was little changed at $0.71555.

In US Equity Markets stocks gyrated in afternoon trading to close lower with interest rate sensitive tech stocks weighing most heavily as uncertainties surrounding an increasingly hawkish Federal Reserve and rising geopolitical tensions contributed to the market’s churn. The Dow fell 0.19 percent, to 34,297.73, the S&P 500 lost 1.22 percent, to 4,356.45 and the Nasdaq Composite fell 2.28 percent, to 13,539.30. General Electric Co fell 6.0 percent after the industrial conglomerate, weighed down by global supply disruptions, reported a decline quarterly revenue.

In Commodities Markets oil prices rose over 2 percent on Tuesday on concerns supplies could become tight due to Ukraine-Russia tensions, threats to infrastructure in the United Arab Emirates and struggles by OPEC+ to hit its targeted monthly output increase. Brent futures rose 2.2 percent, to settle at $88.20 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude rose 2.8 percent, to settle at $85.60. Spot gold rose 0.5 percent to $1,852.03 per ounce. Spot silver fell 0.1 percent to $23.92 an ounce, platinum was up 0.1 percent at $1,028.00 while palladium rose 2.3 percent to $2,198.37.

In European Equity Markets stocks recovered some lost ground on Tuesday following their worst sell-off since June 2020, after upbeat earnings reports from Ericsson and Logitech provided support. The top European stock index gained 0.7 percent after shedding 3.8 percent in the previous session. Sweden’s Ericsson rose 7.6 percent as it reported fourth-quarter core earnings above market estimates, helped by higher sales of telecoms gear with more countries rolling out 5G networks. Swiss computer peripherals-maker Logitech International gained 6.2 percent after raising its earnings forecast for the current fiscal year.

In Bond Markets U.S. Treasury yields on 2-year notes and higher rose on Tuesday, a day before a Federal Reserve statement that is likely to signal a rate increase in March, tightening policy for the first time since it cut borrowing costs to near-zero soon after the start of the pandemic nearly two years ago. In late afternoon trading, the benchmark U.S. 10-year yield rose 5 basis points to 1.7867 percent. U.S. 30-year yields were up nearly 4 basis points to 2.1235 percent. On the shorter end of the curve, U.S. Treasury 2-year and 5-year yields rose to 1.0313 percent and 1.5674 percent, respectively.