In Asian Equity Markets stocks rose on Thursday, tracking overnight gains in Wall Street as investors awaited more cues on U.S. monetary policy, while focus turned to interim earnings from some of the biggest firms in China. China’s blue-chip Shanghai Shenzhen CSI 300 index rose 0.1 percent, while the Shanghai Composite index added 0.3 percent. Broader Asian stock markets also rose, with Japan’s Nikkei 225 index adding 0.7 percent, while the Taiwan Weighted Index rose 1 percent. Hong Kong’s technology-heavy Hang Seng index rose the most in Asia on Thursday, rising 1.4 percent in afternoon trade.

In Currency Markets the U.S. dollar edged back from a near two-decade peak against a basket of major currencies on Thursday as investors awaited a speech by Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell the following day for fresh clues on the path for monetary policy. The U.S. dollar index eased 0.19 percent to 108.42, but remained not far from its highest since September 2002 at 109.29, touched in mid-July. The dollar retreated 0.25 percent to 136.78 yen, from this week’s one-month high of 137.705. The euro edged 0.18 percent higher to $0.99865, after sliding to a 20-year low of $0.99005 on Tuesday.

In US Equity Markets stocks ended higher on Wednesday, lifted by gains in energy stocks and Intuit while investors awaited the U.S. Federal Reserve’s Jackson Hole conference this week. The S&P 500 climbed 0.29 percent to end the session at 4,140.77 points. The Nasdaq gained 0.41 percent to 12,431.53 points, while Dow rose 0.18 percent to 32,969.23 points. Peloton Interactive rose over 20 percent after the stationary bike company said it would sell its products on Amazon in a bid to boost sales that have fell following the end of pandemic lockdowns.

In Commodities Markets oil prices ended Wednesday higher after a volatile trading session on concerns that the United States will not consider additional concessions to Iran in its response to a draft agreement that would restore Tehran’s nuclear deal – and potentially the OPEC member’s crude exports. Brent crude settled up $1.00 to $101.22 while U.S. crude settled up $1.15 to $94.89 a barrel. Spot gold was up 0.1 percent at $1,749.35 per ounce. Spot silver fell 0.7 percent to $19.03 per ounce. Platinum        fell 0.6 percent to $874.64 per ounce while palladium rose 2.5 percent to $2,029.21.

In European Equity Markets stocks eked out gains by the close on Wednesday, buoyed by a rise in defensive stocks, though worries over a looming energy crisis and gloomy growth outlook kept gains in check. The pan-European STOXX 600 ended 0.2 percent higher, breaking a three-day losing streak but hovering near one-month lows. Among stocks, Richemont rose 3.6 percent after the company said Farfetch would acquire a 47.5 percent stake in the luxury goods group’s loss-making online fashion retailer YOOX Net-A-Porter and that Alabbar would take 3.2 percent.

In Bond Markets U.S. Treasury yields touched fresh multi-week highs on Wednesday, as investors squared up positions ahead of what could be a pivotal central bank gathering in Wyoming that could see the Federal Reserve reinforce its tightening stance meant to stamp out inflation. In afternoon trading, the yield on 10-year Treasury notes rose to eight-week highs of 3.126 percent and was last up 5.6 bps at 3.1095 percent. The yield on the 30-year Treasury bond hit an eight-week high of 3.33 percent. It was last up 6.6 bps at 3.321 percent.