A surge in inflation in the U.S. to a fresh forty-year of 8.6 percent high spooked investor sentiment across global markets. The Covid situation in China, a slump in U.K.'s GDP readings, the Bank of England's impending interest rate review, all dragged global markets lower.
Asian equity markets suffered heavy losses. European equity markets too are in a sea of red. Wall Street Futures imply a gap down opening. The Dollar Index surged as the Fed's likely aggressive moves to combat inflation pushed the Dollar higher. Bond yields surged to reflect the increase in interest rate expectations. Crude Oil prices too declined as a spurt in Beijing's Covid cases dashed hopes of a revival in oil demand. Gold dropped almost a percent amidst the surging Dollar. Cryptocurrencies plunged more than 10 percent overnight.
Here is a snapshot of the world markets at this hour across stocks, currencies, bonds, commodities and cryptocurrencies.
Stock Indexes:
DJIA (US30) at 30,792.80, down 1.91% S&P 500 (US500) at 3,805.50, down 2.44% Germany's DAX at 13,455.39, down 2.23% U.K.'s FTSE 100 at 7,186.26, down 1.79% France's CAC 40 at 6,046.84, down 2.27% Euro Stoxx 50 at 3,512.25, down 2.42% Japan's Nikkei 225 at 26,987.44, down 3.01% Australia's S&P ASX 200 at 6,932.00, down 1.25% (June,10)China's Shanghai Composite at 3,255.55, down 0.89% Hong Kong's Hang Seng at 21,067.58, down 3.39%
Currencies:
EURUSD at 1.0472, down 0.41%GBPUSD at 1.2214, down 0.81%USDJPY at 134.35, down 0.05%AUDUSD at 0.6983, down 0.96%USDCAD at 1.2846, up 0.51%Dollar Index at 104.64, up 0.47%
Ten-Year Govt Bond Yields:
U.S. at 3.234%, up 2.45% Germany at 1.5525%, up 3.64%France at 2.164%, up 3.39%U.K. at 2.4980%, up 2.25%Japan at 0.252%, down 1.37%
Commodities:
Crude Oil WTI Futures (Jul) at $119.30, down 1.14%Brent Oil Futures (Aug) at $120.83, down 0.97%Gold Futures (Aug) at $1,858.75, down 0.89%
Cryptocurrencies:
Bitcoin at $24,364.27, down 11.73%Ethereum at $1,238.17, down 16.05%BNB at $227.23, down 12.18% Cardano at $0.4508, down 13.31%XRP at $0.3144, down 10.36%
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Business News
May 01, 2026 15:54 ET Central banks dominated the economics news flow this week with almost all major ones announcing their latest policy decisions and many boosted expectations for a rate hike in June. In other news, several countries released the preliminary data for first quarter economic growth. In the U.S., comments by Fed Chair Jerome Powell were also in focus as his term ends this month.