In Asian Equity Markets stocks rose on Wednesday even as central banks piled into aggressive rate hikes to battle soaring inflation and left investors worried about slower global growth. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 0.72 percent, with Australian shares up 0.72 percent, Seoul adding 0.84 percent and Taiwan advancing 1.07 percent. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng and China’s main indexes also traded higher, while Japan’s Nikkei share average lost 0.04 percent. The broader Topix fell 0.09 percent to 1,876.58.

In Currency Markets the dollar was up on Wednesday morning in Asia as investors awaited minutes from the last U.S. Federal Reserve meeting. The U.S. Dollar Index that tracks the greenback against a basket of other currencies inched up 0.09 percent to 101.968. Against the Japanese yen, the dollar edged up 0.11 percent to 126.96. The euro was down 0.22 percent to $1.07105 but remained near Tuesday’s high of $1.0748, a level not seen since April 25. The Aussie dollar edged up 0.15 percent to $0.7114, and the kiwi gained 0.67 percent to $0.6507.

In US Equity Markets the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq finished in the red on Tuesday as worries that aggressive moves to curb decades-high inflation might tip the U.S. economy into recession dampened investors’ risk appetite. The Dow rose 0.15 percent, to 31,928.62; the S&P 500 lost 0.81 percent, to 3,941.48; and the Nasdaq Composite lost 2.35 percent, to 11,264.45. Meta Platforms Inc, Alphabet Inc, Twitter Inc and Pinterest Inc were down between 5 percent and 24 percent, and the broader S&P 500 Communications Services sector slid 3.7 percent.

In Commodities Markets oil prices steadied on Tuesday after choppy trade as tight supply worries offset concerns over a possible recession and China’s COVID-19 curbs. Brent crude rose 14 cents to settle at $113.56 a barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude fell 52 cents to settle at $109.77 a barrel. Spot gold rose 0.8 percent to $1,867.41 per ounce, after hitting its highest since May 9 at $1,868.69 earlier in the session. Spot silver rose 1.5 percent to $22.09 per ounce, platinum fell 0.2 percent to $956.55 and palladium rose 0.4 percent to $2,001.71.

In European Equity Markets stocks ended lower on Tuesday, tracking declines in global stock markets with business expansion data for May renewing investor concerns over slowing economic growth and monetary policy tightening. The pan-European STOXX 60 index closed 1.1 percent down, giving back almost all of Monday’s gains. Tele2 plunged 7.9 percent after investment company Kinnevik sold a 7.2 percent stake in the telecoms operator. Barclays rose 3.2 percent on starting a suspended 1-billion-pound share buyback programme.

In Bond Markets U.S. Treasury yields fell to one-month lows on Tuesday after housing data pointed to a cooling economy as the Federal Reserve presses on with aggressively hiking interest rates to tackle soaring inflation. Two-year note yields fell to 2.464 percent, the lowest since April 19, before rising back to 2.483 percent. Benchmark 10-year note yields fell to 2.718 percent, the lowest since April 27, before rebounding to 2.760 percent. Inflation expectations also fell, with breakeven rates on five-year Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities (TIPS), at 2.90 percent on Tuesday.