In Asian Equity Markets South Korea’s Kospi recovered from its earlier losses to trade higher by more than 1 percent despite shares of Apple suppliers Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix falling over 2 percent. Over in the Greater China region, the Hang Seng index gained 0.45 percent in early trade. The ASX 200 in Australia rose more than 1.2 percent, with all the sectors seeing gains. The energy sub-index rose more than 3.32 percent as shares of oil-related companies saw gains on the back of Wednesday’s strong rally in oil prices.

In Currency Markets the yen jumped versus its peers on Thursday, breaking through key technical support levels as heightened global growth risks pushed investors into safe haven-assets in moves exacerbated by thin holiday volumes. Market participants fled to the safety of the highly liquid Japanese yen, which rose 1.4 percent versus the dollar on Thursday, fetching 107.38. The Australian dollar, often considered a gauge of global risk appetite, fell to its lowest level since 2009 in early Asian trade to an intra-day low of $0.6776.

In Commodities Markets oil prices fell on Thursday amid volatile currency and stock markets, and as analysts warned of an economic slowdown for 2019 just as crude supply is rising globally. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil futures were at $45.93 per barrel, down 61 cents, or 1.3 percent, from their last settlement. International Brent crude futures were down 36 cents, or 0.7 percent, at $54.55 per barrel. U.S. crude production stood at a record 11.7 million barrels per day (bpd) in late 2018, making the United States the world’s biggest oil producer.

In US Equity Markets indices ended higher on Wednesday after stumbling out of the starting gate on the first trading day of 2019, while fears of a global economic slowdown were exacerbated after Apple cut its holiday-quarter revenue forecast. Apple fell 8 percent in extended trading late in the day after the iPhone maker slashed its outlook for the December quarter, blaming weak demand in China. The S&P 500 gained 0.13 percent, to 2,510.03 and the Nasdaq Composite added 0.46 percent, to 6,665.94. Of the 11 major sectors in the S&P 500, seven closed in positive territory.

In Bond Markets the Treasury yield curve flattened on Wednesday afternoon as shorter-dated yields rose on higher oil prices, while at the long end, the benchmark 10-year U.S. government bond was driven to an 11-month low by concerns about a global growth slowdown. The 10-year Treasury yield was down 3 basis points, last at 2.66 percent, approaching the key level of 2.64 percent, a retracement of 50 percent from the 2018 high yield of 3.25 percent. The benchmark 10-year German government bond yield was down 8.4 basis points, last at 0.16 percent.