In Asian Equity Markets chip stocks took a beating on Thursday, sending most Asian share indexes lower, after grim signals from Micron Technology overnight about excess inventories and sluggish demand. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index lost 2.1 percent, with its tech stocks falling more than 4 percent. Mainland Chinese shares also declined, with blue chips falling 1.1 percent. Japan’s Nikkei lost 0.3 percent and South Korea’s Kospi fell 1.1 percent, each led by declines in heavyweight chip players.

In Currency Markets the dollar rebounded on Thursday as strong U.S. retail data cast doubt on the recent narrative that inflation is in retreat and U.S. interest rates need not rise too much further. The dollar index gained 0.18 percent to 106.46. The euro fell 0.13 percent to $1.03765, reversing earlier gains from easing tension over a missile blast in Poland, with NATO saying it was a stray fired by Ukraine’s air defences and not a Russian strike. Sterling eased 0.23 percent to $1.18855, while the yen was more resilient, trading little changed at 139.50 per dollar. The Aussie dollar fell 0.4 percent to $0.6715.

In US Equity Markets main indexes ended lower on Wednesday as a grim outlook from Target spurred fresh concerns about retailers heading into the crucial holiday season, while semiconductor shares slid after Micron’s supply cut. The Dow fell 0.12 percent, to 33,553.83, the S&P 500 lost 0.83 percent, to 3,958.79 and the Nasdaq Composite lost 1.54 percent, to 11,183.66. Shares of Target Corp lost 13.1 percent after the big-box retailer forecast a surprise decline in holiday-quarter sales. The S&P 500 consumer discretionary sector shed 1.5 percent.

In Commodities Markets oil prices settled more than a dollar lower on Wednesday after Russian oil shipments via the Druzhba pipeline to Hungary restarted and as rising COVID-19 cases in China weighed on sentiment. Brent crude futures settled a dollar lower at $92.86 a barrel, down 1.1 percent. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures slid by 1.5 percent, to settle at $85.59 a barrel. Spot gold edged 0.3 percent lower to $1,773.13 per ounce. Silver fell 0.6 percent to $21.41 per ounce, platinum was down 1.2 percent to $1,002.47 and palladium lost 1.1 percent to $2,075.55.

In European Equity Markets stocks fell on Wednesday, led by losses in shares of Mercedes Benz Group, while a dour forecast from U.S. big box retailer Target Corp pressured regional retailers on concerns about consumer spending. The pan-European stock index index closed 1 percent down. Automobile stocks fell 3.7 percent to log their biggest one-day percentage fall in almost seven weeks. Mercedes Benz slid 6.2 percent after the premium German carmaker cut prices on some of its EQE and EQS models in China due to changing market demand for top-end electric vehicles (EVs).

In Bond Markets long-dated U.S. Treasury yields fell on Wednesday and the inversion in key parts of the yield curve deepened after a strong retail sales report boosted expectations that the Federal Reserve will continue hiking rates, which in turn is more likely to hurt economic growth. Benchmark 10-year yields fell 10 basis points to 3.694 percent, the lowest since Oct. 5, after a brief initial pop after the data. The two-year, 10-year part of the curve was at minus 67 basis points, nearing levels last reached in 2000. The gap between three-month and 10-year yields inverted as far as minus 55 basis points.