In European Equity Markets stocks reduced some of their earlier losses in afternoon trade Tuesday after falling 3 percent in the early hours of the session. The pan-European Stoxx 600 closed 2.28 percent lower with every sector in the red. Banks and insurance stocks were among the most impacted by the sell-off, down by more than 2.7 percent for the day. The FTSE 100 closed down 146 points, or 2.42 percent at 7157. It had earlier hit a one-year low, by shedding 255 points at the open. Overall, there was a sea of red across the European benchmark with only a handful of companies trading above the flatline. Austria Microsystems was a rare bright spot, rising 13 percent on the day. The Apple supplier said that an investment partner agreed to fund 25 percent of its planned $600 million spending this year.

In Currency Markets Sterling fell for a third straight day on Tuesday, hitting two-week lows against a broadly stronger dollar even though investors remained wary of selling it down too far before this week’s Bank of England meeting. Currency markets have been relatively calm compared with equity markets which are suffering their fourth straight day of falls. But as the dollar has strengthened, sterling has struggled, losing as much as 0.8 percent at one point on Tuesday to hit a two-week low of $1.3838 before recovering to trade at $.3948, still down 0.1 percent on the day, as the dollar pulled back again. Versus the euro, sterling fell as much as 0.4 percent to a three-week low of 89.10 pence, before recovering to trade at 89.00 pence, still down 0.1 percent on the day.

In Commodities Markets oil fell for a third day on Tuesday, swept lower by a wave of selling that hit equities, bonds, crypto-currencies and commodities, although the crude market is in positive territory so far this year. Brent crude futures were down 81 cents on the day at $66.81 a barrel, but still up 1 percent so far in 2018. U.S. crude futures fell 72 cents to $63.43. Oil has been caught between the opposing forces of a 1.8 million barrels per day (bpd) cut in supply by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and Russia, and a jump in U.S. crude output above 10 million bpd. There is also a seasonal downturn in demand, as many refineries shut for maintenance at the end of the peak-consumption winter season in the northern hemisphere.

In US Equity Markets stocks fell in volatile trading on Tuesday, as a pullback from record highs steepened following the biggest one-day declines for the S&P 500 and Dow in more than six years. Major indexes swung up and down after starting the session 2 percent lower, underscoring a return of volatility to a market that until recently had been known for the absence of such major shifts. The S&P 500 lost 0.30 percent, to 2,640.99 and the Nasdaq Composite fell 0.25 percent, to 6,950.41. General Motors Co. stock bucked the market’s downtrend Tuesday to rise the most in four months after the car maker beat Wall Street’s quarterly expectations and renewed its goal to turn the same profit this year despite likely fewer sales. The stock rose more than 5 percent.

In Bond Markets Euro zone government bond yields fell on Tuesday, with Germany’s 10-year bond yield set for its biggest one-day fall in two months, as a sell-off in world stocks drove investors into safe-haven debt. Bond yields across the bloc fell 5 to 6 basis points, after rising to multi-year highs in recent sessions on expectations strong growth and a pick-up in inflation would encourage central banks to pull away from ultra-easy monetary policies. U.S 10-year Treasury yields fell from four-year highs to as low as 2.648 percent. Japanese government bond yields fell to their lowest in almost a month at 0.065 percent in European trade. An expected Greek sale of seven-year bonds will not happen on Tuesday against the backdrop of volatile world markets.