In Asian Equity Markets Japanese stocks rose on Tuesday, clawing back most of the previous session’s losses, tracking Wall Street overnight as investors reassessed the hawkish turn at the U.S. Federal Reserve. The Nikkei index rose 2.9 percent to 28,822.28, with all 225 shares advancing. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 0.35 percent, moving above Monday’s four-week lows and notching a 4 percent gain so far this year. South Korea stocks rose 0.4 percent, Australia was up 1.2 percent and Chinese stocks advanced 0.6 percent.

In Currency Markets the dollar paused for breath on Tuesday as traders looked to testimony from U.S. Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell for guidance, after a surprise shift in the central bank’s policy outlook. Against the euro, the dollar nursed an overnight loss of about 0.4 percent to steady around $1.1909. It held at 110.31 yen, and the dollar index was steady at 91.915. The Australian and New Zealand dollars eased – after snapping losing streaks on Monday – with the Aussie down 0.2 percent to $0.7527 and the kiwi down 0.15 percent to $0.6978.

In US Equity Markets stocks rallied on Monday, with the Dow completing its strongest session in over three months as investors piled back in to energy and other sectors expected to outperform as the economy rebounds from the pandemic. The Dow rose 1.76 percent to end at 33,876.97 points, while the S&P 500 gained 1.40 percent to 4,224.79. The Nasdaq Composite climbed 0.79 percent to 14,141.48. All 11 S&P 500 sector indexes rose, with energy rising 4.3 percent and leading the way, followed by financials, up 2.4 percent. Microsoft Corp rose 1.2 percent to close at an all-time high.

In Commodities Markets gold on Monday clawed back some losses from its biggest weekly percentage decline since March 2020, as a pause in the U.S. dollar’s rally helped restore the metal’s allure. Spot gold was up 1.1 percentage at $1,782.83 per ounce. In other precious metals, platinum rose 2.5 percentage to $1,060.05 per ounce, while palladium climbed 4.5 percentage to $2,575.24 per ounce.  silver rose 0.6 percentage to $25.95 an ounce. Crude oil rose, underpinned by demand. Brent crude futures were at $74.77, up 1.71 percentage on the day, as U.S. crude rose 2.5 percentage to $73.43 per barrel.

In European Equity Markets stocks rose on Monday, led by growth-exposed sectors as encouraging comments from central bank head Christine Lagarde boosted optimism over a speedy economic recovery this year. The pan-European STOXX 600 index ended 0.7 percent higher at 455.23 points. London’s FTSE 100 rose 0.6 percent. Automobile and chemical stocks were the top gaining sectors, while basic resources rose 1.3 percent from a near three-month low. The Bank of England is expected to keep interest rates at a record low when it convenes on Thursday.

In Bond Markets falling inflation expectations briefly pushed yield spreads to their lowest levels in months before rebounding on Monday as investors continued to digest the Federal Reserve’s hawkish turn at its policy meeting last week. The spread between two-year notes and 10-year Treasuries hit its lowest level since February before rising slightly to 118.93 basis points. The yield curve spread between five-year notes and 30-year bonds hit 107.80 basis points, before ticking back to 121.90.  Two-year yields were flat at 0.2563 percent, while 10-year yields edged higher to 1.4853 percent.