In Asian Equity Markets stocks fell to their lowest in nearly 15 months on Thursday after the Federal Reserve’s chairman signalled plans to steadily tighten policy. MSCI’s broad gauge of regional markets outside Japan fell 2.2 percent on Thursday. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index fell 2.4 percent, Australian stocks lost 1.77 percent and Chinese blue-chips fell to their lowest level since Sept. 30, 2020, as Refinitiv flows data pointed to heavy selling by foreign investors through the country’s Stock Connect scheme. In Tokyo, the Nikkei fell more than 3 percent, touching its lowest point since Nov. 2020.

In Currency Markets the dollar rose to multi-week highs against other major currencies on Thursday, after Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell surprised investors by leaving the door open to larger and faster than expected interest rate hikes. The greenback hit a two-month top of $1.1220 per euro and held gains at 114.62 yen. The risk-senstive Australian dollar was last down about 0.6 percent at $0.7072, having broken support around $0.7082 to leave open December’s low of $0.6994. The New Zealand dollar fell 0.7 percent to $0.6601, a nearly 15-month trough. Sterling fell 0.2 percent to $1.3431.

In US Equity Markets the S&P 500 ended lower on Wednesday, taking an abrupt nosedive that reversed earlier solid gains after the U.S. Fed released its statement at the conclusion of its two-day policy meeting. The Dow fell 0.38 percent, to 34,168.09, the S&P 500 lost 0.15 percent, to 4,349.93 and the Nasdaq Composite added 0.02 percent, to 13,542.12. Microsoft Corp gained 2.8 percent after current-quarter revenue guidance.  Boeing Co was down 4.8 percent after the plane maker said it incurred $4.5 billion in charges in the fourth quarter related to its sidelined 787.

In Commodities Markets oil rose on Wednesday, tuoching $90 a barrel for the first time in seven years, supported as tight supply and rising political tensions between Russia and Ukraine added to concerns about further disruption in an already-tight market. Brent crude gained 2 percent, to settle at $89.96 a barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude closed up 2 percent, to $87.35 a barrel. Spot gold was down 1.6 percent at $1,818.66 per ounce. Silver fell 1 percent to $23.59. Palladium was up 6.1 percent at $2,334.89 an ounce, while platinum rose 0.8 percent to $1,033.72.

In European Equity Markets stocks extended gains to record their best session since early December on Wednesday as recently bruised energy, travel and technology stocks recovered ahead of a U.S. Fed monetary policy meeting. The pan-European STOXX 600 rose 1.7 percent, with all sectors in positive territory, marking the second straight session of gains after it fell by about 4 percent on Monday. BioNTech SE gained 6.3 percent after the company and Pfizer said that they had started a clinical trial to test a new version of their vaccine specifically designed to target the COVID-19 Omicron variant.

In Bond Markets U.S. Treasury 2-year yields rose to their highest since February 2020 after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell struck a hawkish tone, flagging an interest rate increase in March and saying there is room for further policy tightening without hurting employment. U.S. 2-year yields rose to a nearly two-year peak of 1.0950 percent and were last up nearly 6 basis points at 1.0849 percent. In late afternoon trading, the benchmark U.S. 10-year yield rose 6 basis points to 1.8476 percent. U.S. 30-year yields were up 3 basis points at 2.1612 percent.