In Asian Equity Markets stocks traded mixed on the first trading day of the month after finishing February with losses. Declines in Japan and Australia came after sharp losses were recorded stateside in the previous session, while China markets rose. The Nikkei 225 declined 1.46 percent, or 321.94 points, on the first day of March. Automakers, technology stocks and financials traded lower. Heavyweight SoftBank Group lost 1.02 percent, Toyota slid 1.87 percent and apparel company Fast Retailing was off 1.15 percent. Among manufacturing names, Fanuc declined 1.3 percent and Kyocera lost 1.84 percent. In Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 declined 0.8 percent. Losses were led by the energy sub-index, which fell 2.24 percent. Mining majors were also weaker in the morning, with Rio Tinto falling 4.18 percent and Fortescue Metals losing 1.69 percent. Oil producers were lower in early trade as crude prices remained soft, with Oil Search down 4.64 percent.

In Currency Markets the US dollar held firm on Thursday, drawing support after the Federal Reserve’s new chief Jerome Powell struck an optimistic tone on the U.S. economy in a boost to rate hawks that sent global stocks tumbling. In contrast, benign inflation data in the euro zone dented expectations that the European Central Bank will dial back its stimulus, slamming the euro to five-week lows against the dollar and a six-month nadir against the yen. The euro fell to $1.21835, its lowest since Jan. 18. Against the yen, the single currency fell to 129.86 yen, its weakest since early September and down 5.6 percent from its 2-1/2-year high hit just a month ago. The pound fell to $1.3743, its lowest level since mid-January. The euro firmed to 0.88625 pound, having risen almost 1 percent from this week’s low of 0.8772 touched on Monday. The Australian dollar traded 0.5 percent down at $0.7726, having briefly fallen to as low as $0.7717.

In Commodities Markets oil prices were little changed on Thursday after falling in the previous two sessions as investors shied away from riskier assets amid volatile equity markets and the U.S. dollar gained, limiting overall interest in commodities. Both global benchmark oil futures fell sharply on Wednesday after crude and gasoline inventories in the United States rose unexpectedly. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude for April delivery was up 8 cents at $61.72 a barrel by 0403 GMT after settling down 2.2 percent in the previous session. Brent crude for May delivery, the new front-month contract, was down 3 cents at $64.70. The April contract expired on Wednesday down 1.3 percent. Both benchmark contracts fell nearly 5 percent in February, the first monthly decline in six months. U.S. crude inventories rose by 3 million barrels last week, compared with analyst expectations for a build of 2.1 million barrels, weekly data by the Energy Information Administration (EIA) showed.

In US Equity Markets stocks fell to end sharply lower on Wednesday, dragged down by continued worries over rising interest rates, and the Dow and S&P 500 capped their worst months since January 2016. The S&P 500 also snapped a 10-month straight run of gains, which had been its longest monthly winning streak since an 11-month run from March 1958 to January 1959. The S&P 500 lost 1.11 percent, to 2,713.83 and the Nasdaq Composite fell 0.78 percent, to 7,273.01. Retailer shares were among the bright spots of the day. Booking Holdings Inc, formerly known as Priceline, rose 6.8 percent after reporting upbeat quarterly profit, helped by higher hotel bookings, while off-price apparel seller TJX jumped 6.9 percent after posting upbeat same-store sales. Celgene Corp’s 9 percent decline was a drag on the healthcare sector after U.S. health regulators rejected the company’s application seeking approval of a multiple sclerosis drug.

In Bond Markets the spread between short- and longer-dated U.S. Treasury yields shrank further on Wednesday after Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell’s optimistic outlook on the economy raised bets the U.S. central bank may raise interest rates faster.  The two-year Treasury yield, which is sensitive to traders’ view on Fed policy, hit 2.286 percent, the highest since September 2008. It was last 2.262 percent, down a tad from Tuesday. Japanese government bonds firmed on Thursday as an auction of 10-year bonds attracted solid bids while a fall in Japanese and global share prices made bonds more attractive. The benchmark 10-year JGB yield fell 1.0 basis point to 0.035 percent, its lowest level in almost three months. The 2.3 trillion yen 10-year JGB auction attracted bids 4.53 times the offer, little changed from the bid-to-cover ratio of 4.58 last month. The 20-year JGB yield was flat at 0.540 percent while the 30-year JGB yield dipped 0.5 basis point to 0.750 percent.