In Asian Equity Markets indices were mixed on Wednesday morning, following the White House’s restatement of its tough stance on trade. The Nikkei 225 made a partial recovery but remained down by 0.2 percent in the morning, while the Topix index slipped by 0.69 percent. Down Under, however, the ASX 200 rose 0.21 percent in the morning, with major miner Rio Tinto advancing by 1.1 percent while BHP Billiton traded higher by 1.25 percent. South Korean markets are closed for a public holiday.

In Currency Markets the US dollar largely stuck to tight ranges on Wednesday as investors awaited policy cues from the Federal Reserve, which is widely expected to raise interest rates later in the day, and as the Sino-U.S. trade dispute dampened demand for risky assets. The dollar changed hands at 112.94 Japanese yen, close to a near 10-week high of 113.02 yen touched earlier in the session. Meanwhile, the Australian and New Zealand dollars got a boost after figures showed New Zealand business sentiment rose from a decade-low in September.

In Commodities Markets brent oil edged further away from a four-year high on Wednesday and U.S. crude fell, after the U.S. said it would ensure crude markets are well supplied before sanctions are re-imposed on Iran and as President Donald Trump criticized high prices. Brent crude futures were down 0.5 percent, at $81.44 a barrel, after gaining nearly 1 percent the previous session. U.S. crude futures were down 40 cents, or 0.6 percent at $71.88 a barrel. They rose 0.3 percent on Tuesday to close at their highest level since mid-July.

In US Equity Markets the S&P 500 fell on Tuesday as chip-makers were dented by ratings downgrades and utilities declined ahead of an expected Federal Reserve interest rate hike, offsetting a boost from the energy sector. The Nasdaq Composite rose 0.18 percent to 8,007.47. Amazon.com Inc provided the greatest lift to the technology-heavy index, jumping 2.08 percent. In extended trade, Nike Inc fell 2.89 percent after it reported quarterly results. The Dow fell 0.26 percent to end at 26,492.21 points, and the S&P 500 lost 0.13 percent to 2,915.56.

In Bond Markets U.S. Treasury yields climbed on Tuesday, with the 10-year yield scaling to a four-month peak, on bets about Federal Reserve interest rate increases in the coming months and poor demand so far for this week’s supply of government debt. The U.S. Treasury Department sold $38 billion in five-year notes to soft bidding, following a weak auction for $37 billion of two-year debt on Monday. The benchmark 10-year Treasury yield was 3.102 percent, up over 2 basis points from late on Monday. Five-year yields touched 2.990 percent, which was last seen in June 2009.