In Asian Equity Markets stocks fell in volatile trade on Wednesday, failing to extend Wall Street’s rally as persistent worries about interest rates and inflation remained a key focus for investors, while the Japanese yen hit a fresh 24-year low against the dollar. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan fell 1 percent, but was still up 1.39 percent on the more than five-week low it hit on Monday. Tokyo’s Nikkei gave up early gains and was flat. Chinese blue chips lost 0.4 percent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index fell 0.9 percent and Korea’s KOSPI was down 1.78 percent.

In Currency Markets the yen hit a fresh 24-year low against the dollar on Wednesday, having taken another tumble overnight as U.S. bond yields continued to rise, in stark contrast to Japan’s stubbornly low interest rates. The yen was last drifting at 136.4 per dollar, having hit 136.71 in early trade, the lowest since October 1998. The dollar index was little changed at 104.41, having been largely steady this week, as the yen’s declines were balanced by other currencies tiptoeing higher. The euro was at $1.053. Sterling has also climbed very slowly and was last at $1.2257.

In US Equity Markets major indexes jumped over 2 percent on Tuesday as investors scooped up shares of megacap growth and energy companies after the stock market swooned last week on worries over a global economic downturn. The Dow rose 2.15 percent, to 30,530.25, and the S&P 500 gained 2.45 percent, at 3,764.79. The Nasdaq Composite added 2.51 percent, at 11,069.30. Spirit Airlines shares jumped 7.9 percent after JetBlue Airways said on Monday it sweetened its bid to convince the ultra-low cost carrier to accept its offer over rival Frontier Airlines’ proposal.

In Commodities Markets oil prices edged up on Tuesday on high summer fuel demand while supplies remained tight because of sanctions on Russian oil after its invasion of Ukraine. Brent crude futures settled 0.5 percent, higher at $114.65 a barrel. The U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude contract for July expired on Tuesday, closing at $110.65, with a gain of 1 percent. Spot gold fell 0.2 percent to $1,834.19 per ounce. Spot silver rose 0.6 percent to $21.70 per ounce, platinum also rose 0.6 percent to $936.99, while palladium was up 1.4 percent at $1,873.15.

In European Equity Markets stocks rose for a third straight session on Tuesday, lifted by chemical and resource-linked sectors, as last week’s brutal selloff on recession fears attracted bargain hunters. The pan-European STOXX 600 index advanced 0.4 percent. Miners gained 1.3 percent after touching December 2021 lows in the previous session, while oil and gas stocks rose 1.1 percent as crude prices climbed on tight supply. Boosting chemical stocks, French industrial gas company Air Liquide rose 3.1 percent after striking its largest power purchase deal with Swedish utility Vattenfall.

In Bond Markets U.S. Treasury yields rose on Tuesday as the risk-off mode which weighed on U.S. markets last week took a pause, lifting stocks as investors returned from a long holiday weekend. Two-year Treasury yields, which are highly sensitive to interest rate moves, rose to 3.194 percent on Tuesday, from 3.166 percent on Friday. Benchmark 10-year yields climbed to 3.303 percent from their 3.239 percent close at the end of last week. The closely watched yield curve between two-year and 10-year notes climbed to 10.8 basis points on Tuesday, after inverting by 5 basis points last week.