In Asian Equity Markets Japanese stocks erased early losses on Thursday, led by chipmakers tracking overnight gains by U.S. peers, but investors refrained from making active bets awaiting fresh cues after most companies announced their earnings. Japan’s exports grew the most since 2010 in April while capital spending perked up on rising global demand for cars and electronics. Benchmarks in South Korea and Japan were either side of flat in morning trade and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell about 0.8 percent to pull MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan down by 0.2 percent.

In Currency Markets the dollar bounced off three-month lows against European currencies on Thursday after minutes from the Fed’s last policy meeting revealed there was more talk of tapering its bond purchases than investors had expected. The euro changed hands at $1.2174, flat on day after lost 0.4 percent in the previous session. The British pound decreased to $1.4104, down 0.1 percent so far on Thursday, while the Swiss franc eased to 0.90415 per dollar from Tuesday’s 0.89605. The dollar rose to 109.15 yen from a one-week low of 108.575 yen touched on Wednesday.

In US Equity Markets main indexes closed lower on Wednesday after minutes from an April Federal Reserve meeting showed participants agreed the U.S. economy remained far from the central bank’s goals, with some considering discussions on tapering its bond buying program. All three main indexes hit their session lows in morning trade after opening sharply lower, then partially recovered before the release of the Fed minutes pressured them anew. The Dow fell 0.48 percent, to 33,896.04, the S&P 500 lost 0.29 percent, to 4,115.68 and the Nasdaq Composite decreased 0.03 percent, to 13,299.74.

In Commodities Markets gold fell on Wednesday from a more than four-month high it hit earlier in the session as the dollar and U.S. Treasury yields rose after minutes from a Federal Reserve meeting showed the central bank might be inching closer to taper talks. U.S. gold futures settled up 0.7 percent at $1,881.50. Silver eased 2 percent to $27.64 per ounce. Palladium fell 1.3 percent to $2,865.50, while platinum lost 2.6 percent to $1,186.50. Oil prices fell. Brent futures lost 3.0 percent, to settle at $66.66 a barrel, while U.S. WTI crude fell 3.3 percent, to settle at $63.36.

In European Equity Markets stocks posted their worst daily fall in one week on Wednesday, tracking weakness on Wall Street, as investors grew wary of rising inflationary pressures increasing the odds of an early tightening of monetary policy. The pan-European STOXX 600 index fell 1.5 percent, but was trading less than 2 percent below its all-time high. Miners, travel and technology stocks were the top decliners. European banks posted the smallest declines, helped by rising euro zone government bond yields.

In Bond Markets U.S. Treasury yields jumped on Wednesday on news Federal Reserve policymakers in April hinted at a possible shift in future policy, conjuring up memories of a 2013 market sell-off known as the ‘taper tantrum.’ The yield on 10-year Treasury notes was up 3.8 basis points to 1.680 percent, pulling back slightly from a day’s high of 1.6920 percent. The yield on the 30-year Treasury bond was up 1.9 basis points to 2.383 percent. The breakeven rate on five-year U.S. Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities (TIPS) was last at 2.664 percent.