In Asian Equity Markets stocks rose on Wednesday on rising hopes Beijing will roll out more economic stimulus, while investors continued to watch Ukraine-Russia peace talks and the U.S. Federal Reserve. The CSI300 was last up more than 3.5 percent. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index also extended gains in the afternoon, rising more than 8 percent at one point, leading a more than 3 percent rise in MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan. Elsewhere, Australian shares and Seoul’s Kospi were up about 1.1 percent, while Japan’s Nikkei stock index rose 1.6 percent.

In Currency Markets the dollar traded near a five-year high against the yen on Wednesday as investors awaited a Federal Reserve policy decision, with the Ukraine war and China’s surging COVID-19 cases as the backdrop. The dollar index last stood at 98.880, down slightly from Tuesday. The euro ticked 0.14 percent higher to $1.09695, from a trough of $1.08060 on March 7. The Aussie edged 0.08 percent higher to $0.72015, after falling to $0.71650 in the previous session for the first time since Feb. 28. The dollar traded at 118.21 yen after hitting 118.45 overnight, its strongest since January 2017.

In US Equity Markets stocks rallied on Tuesday and the S&P 500 ended a 3-day skid as another drop in oil prices and a softer-than-expected reading on producer prices helped ease inflation fears among investors, with the focus turning to the Fed’s upcoming policy announcement. The Dow 1.82 percent, to 33,544.34, the S&P 500 gained 2.14 percent, to 4,262.45 and the Nasdaq Composite added 2.92 percent, to 12,948.62. Delta Air Lines Inc gained 8.70 percent and United Airlines jumped 9.19 percent after the U.S. carriers raised their current-quarter revenue forecasts, even as they trimmed capacity.

In Commodities Markets oil prices fell more than 6 percent on Tuesday to their lowest in almost three weeks, as Russia suggested it would allow a revival of the Iran nuclear deal to go forward and as traders worried growing pandemic lockdowns in China could dent demand. Brent futures plummeted 6.5 percent, to settle at $99.91 a barrel. U.S. WTI crude fell 6.4 percent, to settle at $96.44 a barrel. Spot gold was down 1.3 percent at $1,926 per ounce. Spot silver shed 1.6 percent to $24.62 per ounce, while platinum fell 1.6 percent to $1,013.58. spot palladium was up 1.1 percent at $2,412.55 per ounce.

In European Equity Markets stocks fell on Tuesday, with commodity-linked sectors leading the losses, as concerns about surging coronavirus cases in China added to nerves ahead of a widely expected U.S. interest rate hike. The pan-European STOXX 600 index fell 0.3 percent, after rising in the last two sessions when hopes of progress in Russia-Ukraine peace talks had lifted sentiment. European miners fell 2.1 percent and oil & gas stocks lost 0.1 percent, as crude prices shed more than 7 percent and industrial metals fell on concerns over demand from key consumer China following a surge in COVID-19 cases.

In Bond Markets U.S. Treasury yields rose to their highest levels in two-and-a-half years on Tuesday ahead of an expected Federal Reserve announcement on Wednesday of its first interest rates hike in three years. Two-year yields were last at 1.857 percent, after reaching 1.894 percent overnight, the highest since Aug. 2019. Benchmark 10-year note yields were last 2.158 percent, after earlier rising to 2.169 percent, the highest since June 2019. The yield curve between two-year and 10-year notes steepened three basis points to 30 basis points.