In Asian Equity Markets stocks joined a global rally on Wednesday as hopes rose for a negotiated end to the Ukraine conflict, while bond markets signaled concern overnight that aggressive rate hikes could damage the U.S. economy after 10-year yields briefly fell below two-year rates. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 1 percent, and touched its highest level since March 4, with most Asian stock markets in positive territory. Japan’s Nikkei bucked the trend however, falling 1 percent, as observers pointed to profit taking heading into the end of the fiscal year.

In Currency Markets the battered yen bounced on Wednesday as traders began doubting whether Japanese authorities would tolerate too much more weakness, while hopes for a breakthrough in Russia-Ukraine peace talks helped the euro and dragged on the dollar. The yen rose more than 1 percent to 121.32 per dollar. Elsewhere moves were much smaller, with the euro up 0.2 percent to $1.1111 as it edged back toward an overnight two-week high of $1.137. Russia’s rouble sat at 89 to the dollar after hitting a month-high of 83.50 in offshore trade on Tuesday.

In US Equity Markets stocks rose on Tuesday, with the Dow and S&P notching their fourth straight session of gains, on optimism some progress was being made toward a deal to resolve the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. The Dow rose 0.97 percent, to 35,294.19, the S&P 500 gained 1.23 percent, to 4,631.6 and the Nasdaq Composite added 1.84 percent, to 14,619.64. Real estate, up nearly 3 percent on the session, was the best performing sector. FedEx Corp gained 3.70 percent after the global delivery conglomerate named operating chief Raj Subramaniam as its top boss.

In Commodities Markets oil prices ended 2 percent lower on Tuesday as talks progressed between Russia and Ukraine to end their weeks-long conflict, though Moscow negotiators said a promise to scale down some military operations did not represent a ceasefire. Brent crude settled down 2 percent, at $110.23 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude was down 1.6 percent, at $104.24. Spot gold fell 0.4 percent to $1,916.28 per ounce. Silver fell 0.5 percent to $24.71 per ounce and platinum was down 0.4 percent to $980.49. Spot palladium fell 4.4 percent to $2,134.81 per ounce.

In European Equity Markets stocks rallied on Tuesday, taking cues from strength in Asian markets and on Wall Street, as peace talks between Russia and Ukraine yielded the most tangible sign yet of progress towards negotiating an end to the war. The pan-European STOXX 600 index climbed 1.6 percent to its highest in nearly a month, and extended gains to a third straight session, as a sell-off in bonds continued. Gains in London’s FTSE 100 were curbed by a 2.5 percent slide in lender Barclays after one of its top investors offloaded stock roughly equivalent to a 3 percent stake in the bank.

In Bond Markets the widely tracked U.S. 2-year/10-year Treasury yield curve briefly inverted on Tuesday for the first time since September 2019, as bond investors bet that aggressive tightening by the Federal Reserve could hurt the U.S. economy over the longer term. In afternoon trading, the benchmark U.S. 10-year yield was down 7 basis points at 2.4053. U.S. two-year Treasury yields were at 2.3546 percent, down nearly 3 basis points, after earlier hitting a new three-year high of 2.445 percent. The spread between the U.S. 10-year and 2-year yields fell to -3 basis points. It was last at 4.43 basis points.