In Asian Equity Markets stocks fell on Monday as investors braced for a Federal Reserve meeting at which it is expected to confirm it will soon start draining the massive lake of liquidity that has supercharged growth stocks in recent years. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan eased 0.7 percent and Japan’s Nikkei 0.1 percent. Chinese blue chips added 0.4 percent, perhaps aided by the recent easing in policy by Beijing. The Hang Seng index fell 0.9 percent to 24,735.70. The Hong Kong China Enterprises Index lost 1.1 percent to 8,688.62.

In Currency Markets the dollar firmed slightly on Monday with traders nervous about tensions in Ukraine and a possible hawkish tilt by the Federal Reserve at a much-watched meeting this week, while bitcoin lay near a six-month low, a further sign of the “risk off” mood. The euro lost 0.19 percent to 1.1319 and the dollar also gained 0.1 percent on the safe-haven yen with one dollar worth 113.8 per yen, though the Japanese currency was still near its recent top of 113.47. On Monday the Aussie dollar was at $0.716, off 0.3 percent and towards the lower end of its recent range.

In US Equity Markets main indexes ended sharply lower on Friday as Netflix shares plunged after a weak earnings report, capping a brutal week for stocks that saw the S&P 500 and Nasdaq log their biggest weekly percentage drops since the onset of the pandemic in March 2020. The Dow fell 1.3 percent, to 34,265.37, the S&P 500 lost 1.89 percent, to 4,397.94 and the Nasdaq Composite fell 2.72 percent, to 13,768.92. Apple, Tesla and Microsoft are among the large companies due to report next week in a busy week of earnings results.

In Commodities Markets oil prices slid for a second day in a row on Friday, pressured by an unexpected rise in U.S. crude and fuel inventories while investors took profits after the benchmarks touched seven-year highs earlier in the week. Brent futures fell 0.6 percent, to settle at $87.89 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude fell 0.5 percent, to settle at $85.14. Spot gold was down 0.4 percent at $1,831.60 per ounce. Silver fell 0.6 percent to $24.28. Palladium rose 2.2 percent to $2,105.18 per ounce and has rallied about 12.1 percent this week. Platinum fell 0.5 percent to $1,033.86.

In European Equity Markets stocks fell on Friday to mark a third week of losses as jitters over monetary policy tightening by central banks this year and weak economic data sparked steep declines across global equities. The pan-European STOXX 600 fell 1.8 percent and was down 1.4 percent over the week. Mining stocks were the day’s worst performers, losing 3.3 percent. Siemens Energy lost 16.6 percent after cutting its forecast as wind unit Siemens Gamesa warned of prolonged supply chain issues, renewing pressure on the German firm to fully take over the unit.

In Bond Markets U.S. Treasury yields fell on Friday as stock market declines reflected poor risk appetite and as concerns about potential conflict in Ukraine increased demand for the safe haven debt. Benchmark 10-year note yields were last at 1.746 percent, after earlier getting as low as 1.733 percent. They are down from 1.902 percent on Wednesday, which was the highest since Jan. 2020. Investors lent the Fed $1.71 trillion on Friday as demand for safe, short-dated assets continued to outstrip supply. The Fed’s balance sheet stood at $8.79 trillion as of Jan. 12. It is up from $3.76 trillion in mid-2019.