In Asian Equity Markets stocks were mostly higher on Wednesday, with U.S. corporate earnings aiding sentiment, while traders awaited British inflation readings later in the day for clues on how hawkish central banks need to be to fight inflation. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan edged up 0.2 percent, but further gains were capped by slight falls in Chinese shares. China’s mainland bluechips lost 0.2 percent while Hong Kong’s Hang Sang index fell 0.1 percent. Japan’s Nikkei advanced 0.4 percent, Australia’s resources-heavy shares gained 0.4 percent, while South Korea rebounded 0.5 percent.

In Currency Markets the dollar hung close to a 32-year peak versus the yen on Wednesday while edging up from a two-week trough against a basket of major peers as traders weighed improved risk sentiment against the prospect of aggressive Federal Reserve rate hikes. The dollar pushed as high as 149.395 yen overnight for the first time since August 1990. The dollar index edged up to 112.01. The euro was about flat at $0.9857, hanging just under Tuesday’s high of $0.98755, a level last seen on Oct. 6. Sterling gained 0.27 percent to $1.1349, rebounding from a 0.34 percent decline in the previous session.

In US Equity Markets stocks closed higher for a second straight day on Tuesday as solid quarterly results from Goldman Sachs and Lockheed Martin lessened worries of a weak earnings season. The Dow rose 1.12 percent, to 30,523.8, the S&P 500 gained 1.14 percent, to 3,719.98 and the Nasdaq Composite added 0.9 percent, to 10,772.40. Also providing a boost was a 4.31 percent rise in Salesforce Inc shares after a media report that activist investor Starboard Value LP has picked up stake in the enterprise software firm.

In Commodities Markets oil prices settled lower on Tuesday on fears of higher U.S. supply combined with an economic slowdown and lower Chinese fuel demand. Brent crude futures settled down 1.7 percent, to $90.03 per barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude settled down 3.1 percent, to $82.82 per barrel. Spot gold was up 0.1 percent at $1,651.50 per ounce. Elsewhere, spot silver rose 0.1 percent to $18.69 per ounce. Platinum shed 1.3 percent to $903.57 after hitting a 1-1/2-week high earlier, while palladium added 0.8 percent to $2,015.28.

In European Equity Markets stocks rose on Tuesday, building on the previous session’s rally that was driven by Britain’s reversal of its fiscal plan, with investors keeping a watch on earnings to gauge the economic outlook. The region-wide index ended 0.34 percent higher. Shares of chipmakers, including ASML Holdings and Nordic Semiconductor, rose between 0.8 percent and 5.9 percent amid a risk-on sentiment in markets. Telecom Italia added 6.4 percent on a media report that private equity fund CVC might launch a full takeover bid for the Italian phone group.

In Bond Markets U.S. Treasury yields fell across most maturities in choppy trading on Tuesday, tracking for the most part moves in UK and European bonds, as recent measures by the British government to stabilize its bond market eased a bit of investor anxiety that has led to some short-covering. U.S. benchmark 10-year yields fell for the first time in four days. They were last down nearly 2.5 basis points (bps) at 3.9901 percent. The yield on the 30-year Treasury bond was up 0.1 basis points to 4.016 percent.