An unscheduled ECB meeting spoiled an otherwise peaceful wait for the Fed's interest rate decision later in the day. The ECB met in the backdrop of a massive surge in bond yields amidst the much anticipated 75 basis points hike in interest rates by the Fed. The Bank of England is due to announce its interest rate decision on Thursday.
Asian benchmarks finished mixed. European equity markets are trading mostly higher. Wall Street Futures are also in positive territory. Reports of the ECB meeting pushed the Euro higher, dragging the Dollar Index lower. Bond yields mostly eased. Crude Oil prices edged down amidst concerns over demand. Gold gained as the Dollar retreated. Cryptocurrencies continued to tumble.
Here is a snapshot of the world markets at this hour across stocks, currencies, bonds, commodities and cryptocurrencies.
Stock Indexes:
DJIA (US30) at 30,497.30, up 0.44% S&P 500 (US500) at 3,754.00, up 0.50% Germany's DAX at 13,443.19, up 1.04% U.K.'s FTSE 100 at 7,261.10, up 1.02% France's CAC 40 at 6,003.88, up 0.91% Euro Stoxx 50 at 3,507.95, up 0.94% Japan's Nikkei 225 at 26,326.16, down 1.14% Australia's S&P ASX 200 at 6,601.00, down 1.27% China's Shanghai Composite at 3,305.41, up 0.50% Hong Kong's Hang Seng at 21,308.21, up 1.14%
Currencies:
EURUSD at 1.0493, up 0.76%GBPUSD at 1.2083, up 0.75%USDJPY at 134.65, down 0.61%AUDUSD at 0.6934, up 0.96%USDCAD at 1.2948, down 0.05%Dollar Index at 104.75, down 0.73%
Ten-Year Govt Bond Yields:
U.S. at 3.414%, down 1.99% Germany at 1.7465%, up 0.49%France at 2.328%, down 1.83%U.K. at 2.5495%, down 1.64%Japan at 0.262%, up 4.17%
Commodities:
Crude Oil WTI Futures (Jul) at $118.55, down 0.32%Brent Oil Futures (Aug) at $120.84, down 0.27%Gold Futures (Aug) at $1,823.60, up 0.56%
Cryptocurrencies:
Bitcoin at $20,592.59, down 9.93%Ethereum at $1,071.03, down 12.93%BNB at $204.42, down 10.39% Cardano at $0.4563, down 10.78%XRP at $0.3043, down 4.54%
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May 22, 2026 14:46 ET Minutes of the latest Fed policy session was the highlight of the week along with survey data on the U.S. housing market. In Europe, survey data signaled the trends in the euro area private sector. Further, consumer price inflation data from the U.K. was in focus. In Asia, various economic indicators from China drew attention to the health of the economy.