In Asian Equity Markets stocks fell on Tuesday after Wall Street hit a confirmed bear market milestone and bond yields struck a two-decade high on fears aggressive U.S. interest rate hikes would push the world’s largest economy into recession. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was down 0.9 percent. Australian shares S&P/ASX200 sank 5 percent in early trade, while Japan’s Nikkei stock index was down 1.74 percent. In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index lost 1.44 percent and China’s CSI300 Index was down nearly 1 percent at the open.

In Currency Markets the U.S. dollar stood by a fresh 20-year peak on Tuesday and just about everything else nursed losses as investors braced for aggressive Fed rate hikes and a possible recession. The dollar index scaled a two-decade peak of 105.29 on Monday and held at that level in Asia. It has hit one-month highs on the euro, Australian dollar, New Zealand dollar, Swiss franc and Canadian dollar and it made a fresh one-month top of $1.0397 per euro on Tuesday. Sterling sat by a two-year low at $1.2163 as the Fed is seen outpacing the Bank of England, which is expected to deliver a 25 bp hike on Thursday.

In US Equity Markets stocks fell on Monday as fears grow that the expected aggressive interest rate hikes by the Federal Reserve would push the economy into a recession. The S&P 500 lost 3.85 percent, to end at 3,750.95 points, while the Nasdaq Composite lost 4.65 percent, to 10,813.20. The Dow fell 2.73 percent, to 30,535.09. All the major S&P sectors were sharply lower, with only about 10 components of the S&P 500 in positive territory on the day. High-growth market heavyweights such as Apple Inc, Microsoft Corp and Amazon.com Inc were the biggest drags on the S&P 500.

In Commodities Markets oil prices rose on Monday in a session of volatile trade as tight global supplies outweighed worries that demand would be pressured by a flare-up in COVID-19 cases in Beijing and more interest rate hikes. Brent crude rose 26 cents to settle at $122.27 a barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude rose 26 cents to settle at $120.93 a barrel. Spot gold fell 2.2 percent to $1,829.08 per ounce. Palladium was down 6.8 percent at $1,803.23 per ounce. Silver fell 2.6 percent to $21.30 an ounce and platinum retreated 4.1 percent to $933.83.

In European Equity Markets stocks fell to three-month lows on Monday as a sharp rise in U.S. inflation raised concerns about aggressive interest rate hikes by the Federal Reserve. The pan-European STOXX 600 index fell 2.4 percent to its lowest since March 7. Euro zone banks fell 3.1 percent on disappointment that the European Central Bank did not reveal any tool to support peripheral bonds at its meeting last week. France’s biggest banks such as BNP Paribas, Societe Generale and Credit Agricole fell between 4 percent and 4.7 percent.

In Bond Markets benchmark 10-year Treasury yields hit their highest level since 2011 on Monday, and a key part of the yield curve inverted for the first time since April as investors braced for the prospect that the Federal Reserve’s attempts to stem rising inflation will dent the economy. Two-year yields reached 3.283 percent, the highest since December 2007. Five-year yields rose to 3.489 percent, the highest since July 2008, Benchmark 10-year yields hit 3.381 percent, the highest since April 2011. The curve between five-year and 30-year yields inverted by as much as 17 basis points4.