In European Equity Markets stocks closed lower Wednesday, amid elevated concerns of a tit-for-tat trade war between the world’s biggest economies. The pan-European Stoxx 600 closed 0.47 percent lower, with almost all sectors and major bourses in negative territory. Looking at individual stocks, WPP was closed 2 percent lower after the advertising giant said it was investigating CEO Martin Sorrell over “an allegation of personal misconduct.” Elsewhere, Swiss Re said Wednesday that talks with SoftBank over a minority stake of no more than 10 percent in the reinsurance giant were continuing “at an early stage.” Shares of Swiss Re were more than 3.8 percent lower on the news.

In Currency Markets sterling rose versus the dollar on Wednesday despite data showing a sharp slowdown in British construction activity, as an escalation in the U.S.-China trade dispute hit demand for the U.S. currency. Since Britain signed a transition agreement last month for exiting the European Union, concerns about Brexit have abated as investors focus on the state of the UK economy before an expected interest rate rise in May. With the dollar selling off in afternoon trading, sterling held on to some of its gains, rising 0.2 percent to $1.4081. The pound fell 0.1 percent versus the euro to 87.31 pence amid a broader rally in the euro.

In Commodities Markets oil fell to a two-week low on Wednesday after China proposed a broad range of tariffs that fed fears of a burgeoning trade war with the United States, but crude bounced off session lows when U.S. data showed a weekly decline in crude stocks, instead of the increase analysts had expected. Brent crude futures fell 47 cents to $67.65 a barrel, a 0.7 percent loss. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures fell 47 cents to $63.04 a barrel, a 0.7 percent loss. Both benchmarks slid to two-week lows after the China tariff proposal, with Brent hitting $66.69 and U.S. crude slumping as low as $62.06.

In US Equity Markets the Dow fell just over 1 percent on Wednesday as big U.S. manufacturers and chip-makers bore the brunt of a deepening trade conflict between China and the United States. Boeing and Caterpillar led the slide as a raft of major U.S. firms saw millions knocked off share values by the announcement of tariffs on $50 billion worth of the goods exchanged daily between the world’s two largest economies. The S&P 500 fell 0.71 percent to 2,595.96 and the Nasdaq Composite declined 0.81 percent at 6,885.06. Among the few bright spots was house-builder Lennar, whose shares jumped 6.8 percent after it reported quarterly revenue that beat estimates as it sold more homes at higher prices.

In Bond Markets U.S. Treasury prices gained on Wednesday on safety buying after China retaliated against the Trump administration’s plan to impose tariffs on Chinese goods, hurting stock prices. Benchmark 10-year note prices gained 5/32 in price to yield 2.726 percent, down from 2.783 percent on Tuesday. The yields have been range-bound between 2.70 percent and 2.80 percent for the past week. This week’s major economic catalyst will be Friday’s closely watched jobs report, which will be evaluated for accelerating jobs gains and wage pressures.