In Asian Equity Markets Japan’s Nikkei 225 declined 0.63 percent and the Topix fell 0.24 percent. Shares of Fast Retailing, the company behind the Uniqlo chain of apparel stores, fell around 2.8 percent. In South Korea, the Kospi fell 0.18 percent as industry heavyweight Samsung Electronics’ stock was down more than 0.6 percent. Meanwhile, Australia’s ASX 200 rose 0.65 percent, as data on Wednesday showed the country’s economy slowing sharply in the second half of last year. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index added 0.24 percent.

In Currency Markets the U.S. dollar held gains against its peers early on Wednesday, thanks to higher U.S. yields and better-than-expected data, while its Australian counterpart took a knock after disappointing economic growth figures for last quarter. The Australian dollar fell 0.4 percent to a two-month low of $0.7052 as data released earlier in the day reinforced recent evidence of slowing domestic momentum and backed market expectations for a rate cut this year. On Wednesday, the RBA ended a 30th straight meeting with rates at a record-low 1.50 percent.

In Commodities Markets oil prices fell nearly 1 percent on Wednesday as bullish output forecasts by two big U.S. producers and a build in U.S. crude stockpiles outweighed ongoing OPEC-led efforts to rein in crude production. International Brent futures were down 55 cents, or 0.8 percent, at $65.31 a barrel. U.S. WTI crude futures were at $56.05 per barrel, down 51 cents, or 0.9 percent. U.S. crude inventories rose by 7.3 million barrels in the week ending March 1 to 451.5 million, compared with analysts’ expectations for an increase of 1.2 million barrels.

In US Equity Markets indices fell on Tuesday as a decline in General Electric shares countered positive retailer earnings and investors eyed a key resistance level for the benchmark S&P 500 after the market’s strong run. The S&P 500 lost 0.11 percent, to 2,789.65 and the Nasdaq Composite ended flat at 7,576.36. Communication services led gains among the 11 S&P 500 sectors, while industrials fell the most. The consumer discretionary sector rose 0.2 percent, led by a 7.3 percent gain in Kohl’s and 4.6 percent gain for Target following those retailers’ respective earnings reports.

In Bond Markets speculators’ net bearish bets on U.S. 10-year Treasury note futures rose to their highest level in about two months in late February, according to Commodity Futures Trading Commission data released on Tuesday. The amount of speculators’ bearish, or short, positions in 10-year Treasury futures exceeded bullish, or long, positions by 233,995 contracts on Feb. 26, according to the CFTC’s latest Commitments of Traders data. A week earlier, speculators held 215,091 net short positions in 10-year T-note futures.