In Asian Equity Markets Japan and Hong Kong led a jump in regional stocks on Thursday, joining a rally on Wall Street overnight as potential risks from Federal Reserve monetary tightening to the Ukraine war and a slowdown in China became less murky. Japan’s Nikkei rose 3.0 percent and touched a two-week high in Thursday’s session, while South Korea’s Kospi jumped 1.6 percent and Australia’s benchmark added 1.4 percent. Chinese blue chips gained 2.1 percent, and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose 5.2 percent. An MSCI index of regional shares rallied 2.5 percent.

In Currency Markets the yen was pinned to a six-year low on the dollar on Thursday, as a U.S. rate hike and hawkish outlook underscored just how far the Bank of Japan is likely to lag worldwide policy tightening, while stellar jobs data lifted the Australian dollar. The yen hit 119.13 per dollar overnight, its lowest since early 2016, and was last at 118.75. It fell 1.6 percent against the Aussie on Wednesday and slid further on Thursday to a four-year low of 87.05 yen per Aussie. The euro rose more than 1 percent on the yen overnight and more than 0.7 percent on the dollar to stand at $1.1033 in the Asian afternoon.

In US Equity Markets stocks rose on Wednesday as investors shrugged off initial jitters following the U.S. Federal Reserve’s interest rate increase and its signal that more hikes would be needed to fight inflation, ending the pandemic-era’s easy monetary policy. The Dow rose 1.55 percent, to 34,063.1, the S&P 500 gained 2.24 percent, to 4,357.86 and the Nasdaq Composite added 3.77 percent, to 13,436.55. Of the S&P 500’s 11 major industry sectors, the biggest gainers were sectors that had fallen sharply in a recent sell off with consumer discretionary and technology both finishing up more than 3 percent.

In Commodities Markets oil lost ground on Wednesday as traders reacted to hoped-for progress in Russia-Ukraine peace talks and a surprising increase in U.S. inventories. Global benchmark Brent traded in a $6 range, between $97.55 and $103.70 before settling at $98.02, down 1.9 percent. U.S. WTI crude ended down 1.5 percent, at $95.04 a barrel. Spot gold was up 0.1 percent at $1,920.45 per ounce. Spot silver gained 0.3 percent to $24.94 per ounce, while platinum jumped 3.3 percent to $1,018.65. Palladium eased 0.2 percent to $2,418.56 per ounce amid receding supply fears.

In European Equity Markets stocks rose on Wednesday after fresh talks of compromise from Russia and Ukraine boosted gains spurred by China’s promise to roll out more economic stimulus. The pan-European STOXX 600 index closed up 3.1 percent. Dutch tech investor Prosus, which has a huge stake in China’s Tencent, rose nearly 23.9 percent after hitting all-time lows in the previous session. The stock led the wider technology index up nearly 6.6 percent. German carmaker BMW gained 4.1 percent despite lowering its profit margin expectations for its automotive segment for 2022 due to the war in Ukraine.

In Bond Markets the U.S. Treasury yield curve flattened sharply on Wednesday as yields on short- and intermediate-dated maturities that are highly sensitive to interest rates jumped, after the Federal Reserve raised interest rates by a quarter of a percentage points and indicated that it would act aggressively to stamp out inflation. Two-year note yields rose to 2.002 percent while benchmark 10-year yields reached 2.246 percent, both the highest since May 2019, before falling back to 1.932 percent and 2.174 percent respectively.