In Asian Equity Markets stocks wallowed at two-year lows on Wednesday, weighed by signs China had no immediate plans to ease strict COVID curbs while an unrelenting dollar rally and wobbles in the U.K. bond market and pound shook global investor sentiment. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was down 0.50 percent, weighed heavily by China’s CSI300 index, which fell 1.40 percent while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index lost 2 percent. Seoul’s KOSPI index was up 0.52 percent after the Bank of Korea raised rates by 50 basis points for a second time since July, as expected.

In Currency Markets the dollar scaled fresh 24-year heights on the yen on Wednesday, breaching levels that prompted intervention by Japanese officials last month, as traders braced for U.S. inflation data and its implications for further Federal Reserve rate hikes. The dollar strengthened 0.22 percent to 146.18 yen in Asian trading, after pushing as high as 146.39 for the first time since August 1998. The euro fell to its weakest since Sept. 29 overnight at $0.9670. The U.S. dollar index edged 0.08 percent higher to 113.43. The Aussie sank as low as $0.62395.

In US Equity Markets the S&P 500 and Nasdaq ended lower on Tuesday, with indications from the Bank of England that it would support the country’s bond market for just three more days adding to market jitters late in the session. The Dow rose 0.12 percent, to 29,239.32, the S&P 500 lost 0.65 percent, to 3,588.74 and the Nasdaq Composite fell 1.1 percent, to 10,426.19. The S&P banks index was down 2.6 percent ahead of quarterly results from some major banks later this week. The S&P technology sector was down 1.5 percent.

In Commodities Markets oil prices fell for a third straight session on Wednesday as investors fretted about a hit to fuel demand from growing risks of a global recession and tightening COVID-19 curbs in China. Brent crude futures fell 0.5 percent, to $93.78 a barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude was at $88.66 a barrel, down 0.8 percent. Spot gold rose 0.6 percent to $1,677.70 per ounce. Silver fell 1.2 percent to $19.42 per ounce, platinum firmed 0.2 percent to $900.35, and palladium lost 1.1 percent to $2,148.08.

In European Equity Markets stocks fell for a fifth straight session on Tuesday, as investors fretted about the prospects of a global economic downturn and corporate profits being squeezed by rising interest rates as central banks step up their fight against inflation. The region-wide STOXX 600 index closed down 0.6 percent, hitting an over one-week low. London’s blue-chip FTSE 100 index fell 1.1 percent, while a domestically-focused mid cap index fell 1.3 percent. Givaudan slid 6.8 percent after the Swiss fragrance and flavour maker said sales growth slowed in the third quarter.

In Bond Markets longer-dated U.S. Treasury yields shot to multi-year highs on Tuesday as bonds were slammed globally by a rout in the UK gilts market and growing concerns that U.S. inflation data this week will not alter the Federal Reserve’s hiking of interest rates. Yields on the 30-year bond jumped almost 12 basis points to the highest in nearly nine years at 3.959 percent as trading in Treasuries resumed after a U.S. holiday on Monday. Yields on 10-year Treasury notes climbed just over 12 basis points to 4.006 percent, near last month’s 12-year high of 4.019 percent.