In Asian Equity Markets stocks fell on Wednesday, reversing early gains, as analysts said sky-high oil prices meant stocks were quick to react to any hint of bad news such as a rate hike by New Zealand’s central bank. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan fell 0.6 percent, while Japan’s Nikkei lost 1.66 percent, having risen more than 1 percent in early trade. There were falls in Hong Kong off 0.77 percent, Korea down 0.98 percent and Australia 0.8 percent lower. Chinese markets remained closed for a public holiday.

In Currency Markets the dollar edged higher on Wednesday amid nervousness that surging energy prices could spur inflation and interest rate hikes, and as traders awaited U.S. jobs data for clues on the timing of Federal Reserve policy tightening. The kiwi was last 0.4 percent weaker at $0.6928 and the Australian dollar fell by the same margin to $0.7265. The euro was pinned below $1.16 and last bought $1.1589, scarcely higher than the 14-month low of $1.1563 it struck last week. The yen fell to a one-week low of 111.72 per dollar in tandem with a rise in Treasury yields.

In US Equity Markets stocks ended sharply higher on Tuesday, as Microsoft and Apple spearheaded a strong rebound in growth stocks and investors awaited monthly payrolls data later this week that could influence the U.S. Federal Reserve’s decision on when to scale back monetary stimulus. The Dow rose 0.92 percent to end at 34,314.67 points, while the S&P 500 gained 1.05 percent to 4,345.73. The Nasdaq Composite climbed 1.25 percent to 14,433.83. Facebook Inc rebounded 2.1 percent a day after taking a beating when its app and its photo-sharing platform Instagram went offline for hours.

In Commodities Markets Brent crude futures rose to a three-year high on Tuesday while U.S. benchmark oil hit its highest since 2014 after the OPEC and allies stuck to their planned output increase rather than pumping even more crude. Brent crude rose $1.30 to settle at $82.56 a barrel. U.S. crude settled up $1.31 to $78.93 a barrel. Spot gold was down 0.5 percent at $1,760.30 per ounce. U.S. gold futures settled down 0.4 percent at $1,760.9. Elsewhere, spot silver fell 0.3 percent to $22.59 per ounce, platinum lost 0.5 percent to $962.59, while palladium firmed 0.2 percent to $1,909.33.

In European Equity Markets a 3.5 percent increase in European banks and a rally in beaten down technology companies pushed an index of European stocks up over 1 percent on Tuesday, also helped by positive U.S. data bolstering Wall Street. The European tech sector jumped 2.2 percent, breaking a seven-session losing run over which it fell 11.7 percent. U.S. peers also rallied as investors moved into growth names. The pan-European STOXX 600 index ended up 1.2 percent with all major sectors in the black, helping it log its best session since July 21.

In Bond Markets U.S. Treasury yields rose on Tuesday, as worries about the debt ceiling prompted investors to move away from the shortest end of the curve, while inflation concerns weighed on longer-dated debt. In afternoon trading, the benchmark U.S. 10-year yield, which last week rose to its highest since June, was last up 5 basis points at 1.5327 percent. The yield on one-month Treasury bills, which on Monday shot up to 0.145 percent, the highest since October 2020, was last up at 0.1065 percent. The U.S. five-year note yield was last up 3.4 basis points at 0.9796 percent.