In Asian Equity Markets stocks rose on Wednesday while the U.S. dollar stood near its lowest levels this year after U.S. Federal Reserve officials reaffirmed a dovish monetary policy stance, providing yet more assurance to investors worried about the inflation outlook. In early regional trade, MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was up 0.28 percent, while Tokyo’s Nikkei added 0.27 percent. Australian stocks were 0.27 percent higher and Seoul’s Kospi tacked on 0.16 percent. Chinese blue-chips were up 0.13 percent.

In Currency Markets the dollar wallowed near a five-month trough against major peers on Wednesday as Federal Reserve insistence that stimulus will continue kept yields low, while surprisingly hawkish New Zealand central bank comments pushed the kiwi higher. The euro traded just north of the key $1.2250 level as Europe’s pandemic recovery gathers pace. New Zealand’s currency rose after the central bank hinted at a potential interest rate hike by September next year in its monetary policy statement. The kiwi last traded 1.1 percent higher at $0.73072.

In US Equity Markets stocks closed slightly lower on Tuesday, and each of Wall Street’s main indexes failed to stray far from the unchanged mark following a rally in the prior session as investors continue to try and assess the route of inflation. The Dow fell 0.24 percent, to 34,312.46, the S&P 500 lost 0.21 percent, to 4,188.13 and the Nasdaq Composite fell 0.03 percent, to 13,657.17. Energy, down 2.04 percent, was the weakest sector on the day with Exxon Mobil Corp off 2.26 percent as the biggest weight on the S&P 500.

In Commodities Markets gold prices scaled a more than four-month peak on Tuesday, as the dollar and U.S. Treasury yields fell amid expectations that the U.S. Federal Reserve will keep its monetary policy accommodative. U.S. gold futures settled up 0.7 percent at $1,898. Palladium rose 1.7 percent to $2,774.22, platinum was up 1.8 percent at $1,195.54, and silver was 0.5 percent higher at $27.93. Oil prices were little changed on Tuesday with Brent futures rose 16 cents to $68.62 a barrel in early afternoon trading, while U.S. WTI crude rose 19 cents to $66.24.

In European Equity Markets stocks closed flat on Tuesday, as a billion-dollar German property deal and a rally in technology shares were offset by losses in major mining stocks due to concerns over Chinese markets. The pan-European STOXX 600 index ended largely unchanged at 445.20 points, after hitting a record high of 447.15 earlier in the day. Germany’s DAX rose 0.2 percent, having hit a record high earlier in the day on news that Europe’s largest residential property group Vonovia SE agreed to take over its rival Deutsche Wohnen for about 18 billion euros ($22 billion).

In Bond Markets U.S. Treasury yields fell to fresh multi-week lows and the yield curve flattened on Tuesday as inflation concerns eased, with a strong auction of 2-year notes further driving strong gains in prices. The benchmark 10-year Treasury yield fell to a two-week low of 1.56 percent and was last down 4 basis points at 1.562 percent. The 30-year yield, which fell to its lowest since May 7 at 2.255 percent, was last 4 basis points lower at 2.256 percent. The two-year Treasury yield was last down 1 basis point at 0.143 percent.