In European Equity Markets the pan-European Stoxx 600 was 0.1% lower at the closing bell, insurance stocks shedding 1.2% while the oil and gas sector posted gains on the back of higher oil prices. Danish brewery Royal Unibrew jumped 10.8% to top the Stoxx 600, after posting higher-than-expected second-quarter profits and revising up its full-year guidance. At the other end of the European blue chip index, Danish jeweler Pandora fell 6.9%, while London-listed John Wood Group shed 6.5%.

In Currency Markets the pound fell to a six-day low on Wednesday, holding barely above $1.22 as Britain’s Queen Elizabeth gave the nod to Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s plan to suspend parliament, leaving lawmakers little time to prevent a no-deal Brexit. A statement from the official body of advisers to the Queen, known as the Privy Council, confirmed that the British parliament will be prorogued on a day between Sept. 9 and Sept. 12, until Oct. 14. Sterling traded 0.6% lower against the dollar and was down 0.4% again the euro.

In Commodities Markets oil prices gained more than 2% on Wednesday after data showing a fall in U.S. crude stockpiles helped ease worries about weakening oil demand caused by the China-U.S. trade war. Brent crude futures were up $1.33, or 2.2% to $60.84 a barrel. WTI crude CLc1 futures rose $1.42, or 2.6%, to $56.35 a barrel. Although the two benchmarks recorded their biggest daily gains in eleven sessions on Wednesday, they are headed for monthly losses of around 7% and 4%, respectively, weighed down by trade barriers between the world’s two biggest oil consumers.

In US Equity Markets indices were flat on Wednesday after moves in the U.S. bond market brought back fears of a recession as a bruising U.S.-China trade war drags on, while a rise in energy shares offered support. Autodesk shares fell 11.7%, the most on the S&P 500, after the AutoCAD software maker cut its full-year earnings forecast. Coty Inc rose 4.8% after the cosmetics maker raised its full-year revenue forecast, betting on a multi-year turnaround plan that involves increased investments in advertising and cost cuts.

In Bond Markets Italy’s 10-year bond yield briefly fell to a record low below 1% on Wednesday on growing hopes that a new government will soon be formed and a new election averted. The rally in Italy led bond market gains across the euro zone, with global recession concerns and further Brexit uncertainty driving Germany’s 10-year yield to plumb a new record low beyond minus 0.72% and pushing the entire Finnish yield curve sub-zero. Italian two-year bond yields briefly fell to their lowest since May 2018 at -0.22%, while 10-year yields fell to a record low below 1%.