Increasing bets on the Fed's rate hikes in September lifted the Dollar Index higher and the markets lower. Meanwhile, the People's Bank of China lowered the benchmark rates for the second time in the year.
Asian stocks traded mixed. European stocks are trading lower. Wall Street Futures are also in negative territory.
The Dollar Index gained as much as 108.47 causing the Euro to briefly breach the Dollar parity level. Bond yields moved in a mixed pattern. Fears of a recession dragged down crude oil prices. Gold shed close to a percent. Cryptocurrencies extended losses.
Here is a snapshot of the world markets at this hour across stocks, currencies, bonds, commodities and cryptocurrencies. Stock Indexes:
DJIA (US30) at 33,405.50, down 0.89% S&P 500 (US500) at 4,180.40, down 1.14% Germany's DAX at 13,310.00, down 1.73% U.K.'s FTSE 100 at 7,515.68, down 0.46% France's CAC 40 at 6,398.42, down 1.50% Euro Stoxx 50 at 3,671.75, down 1.57%Japan's Nikkei 225 at 28,794.50, down 0.47% Australia's S&P ASX 200 at 7,046.90, down 0.95% China's Shanghai Composite at 3,277.79, up 0.61% Hong Kong's Hang Seng at 19,656.98, down 0.59%
Currencies:
EURUSD at 1.0011, down 0.23%GBPUSD at 1.1813, down 0.12%USDJPY at 136.79, down 0.11%AUDUSD at 0.6899, up 0.40%USDCAD at 1.2990, down 0.02%Dollar Index at 108.31, up 0.13%
Ten-Year Govt Bond Yields:
U.S. at 2.976%, down 0.44% Germany at 1.2245%, down 0.29%France at 1.811%, up 0.19%U.K. at 2.4470%, up 1.45%Japan at 0.215%, down 2.05%
Commodities:
Crude Oil WTI Futures (Sep) at $89.50, down 1.04%Brent Oil Futures (Oct) at $95.74, down 1.01%Gold Futures (Dec) at $1,746.00, down 0.96%
Cryptocurrencies:
Bitcoin at $21,116.21, down 1.32%Ethereum at $1,558.58, down 2.54%BNB at $291.37, down 1.84% XRP at $0.3355, down 2.36%Cardano at $0.4427, down 3.85%
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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.