In Asian Equity Markets the Nikkei 225 fell by 0.64 percent in the morning, while the Topix index declined by 0.56 percent. Shares of major Japanese automakers fell, with Toyota falling by 2.36 percent while Honda saw losses of 3.18 percent. In Australia, the ASX 200 extended gains to trade up by 0.26 percent in the morning, with shares of gold miners gaining: Newcrest Mining rose by 2.28 percent while Evolution Mining advanced by 3.8 percent. Over in Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index fell by 0.18 percent in the early hours of trading action.

In Currency Markets the US dollar stood near a one-month high against its peers on Wednesday as concerns as political wrangling over Italy’s budget plan rattled market sentiment and weighed on the euro. The greenback rose as the euro fell after a senior Italian lawmaker said most of the country’s problems would be solved if it returned to a national currency of its own. The euro was little changed at $1.1550 in Asian trade after retreating to a six-week low of $1.1505 overnight. The Australian dollar was steady at $0.7189 after falling the previous day to a two-week trough of $0.7162.

In Commodities Markets oil prices were firm on Wednesday on expectations of a tighter market once U.S. sanctions start targeting Iran’s petroleum industry from next month, although a strong dollar and rising U.S. crude supply curbed gains.  Brent crude oil futures were trading at $84.89 per barrel, up 9 cents from their last close. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures CLc1 were up 5 cents at $75.28 a barrel. Traders said global oil markets remained tense because of the looming U.S. sanctions against Iran’s oil exports, which kick in from Nov. 4.

In US Equity Markets the Dow and S&P advanced on Tuesday, with the blue-chip index hitting a record, while another decline in Facebook shares weighed on the Nasdaq. Dividend-paying sectors such as utilities, up 1.4 percent and consumer staples, up 0.6 percent were the best performing of the major S&P sectors. Facebook, Netflix and Amazon, part of the so-called FANG group of stocks, kept the Nasdaq in check. The S&P 500 gained 0.12 percent, to 2,928.09 and the Nasdaq Composite fell 0.25 percent, to 8,017.04.

In Bond Markets the yield curve flattened on Tuesday as a hawkish afternoon speech from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell lifted the short end of the curve while the long end remained muted as investors sought safety from the Italian bond selloff. The hawkish implication for interest-rate policy lifted the two-year note yield, which reflects market expectations of interest rates hikes. The spread between two- and 10-year yields was 25.7 basis points at the open but fell to as low as 23.1 basis points on Tuesday afternoon.