World markets remained cautious amidst an anxious wait for the CPI numbers from the U.S. later in the day. The FOMC minutes released a day earlier had revealed the Fed's commitment to returning inflation to the 2 percent objective. Many participants emphasized that the cost of taking too little action to bring down inflation would outweigh the cost of taking too much action.
Asian stocks finished lower. European stocks are however trading in the green zone. Wall Street also appears set to open with moderate gains.
The Dollar Index edged down. Bond yields eased across regions and tenors. Gold edged up amidst the Dollar's weakness. The output cut by OPEC+ continued to lift crude oil prices higher, even as the International Energy Agency lowered the forecast for world oil demand growth for 2023, citing strong economic headwinds. Cryptocurrencies traded in the red.
Here is a snapshot of the world markets at this hour across stocks, currencies, bonds, commodities and cryptocurrencies.
Stock Indexes:
DJIA (US30) at 29,379.00, up 0.58% S&P 500 (US500) at 3,597.50, up 0.57% Germany's DAX at 12,281.57, up 0.90% U.K.'s FTSE 100 at 6,846.13, up 0.29% France's CAC 40 at 5,849.03, up 0.53% Euro Stoxx 50 at 3,346.75, up 0.46%Japan's Nikkei 225 at 26,237.42, down 0.60% Australia's S&P ASX 200 at 6,642.60, down 0.07% China's Shanghai Composite at 3,016.36, down 0.30% Hong Kong's Hang Seng at 16,389.11, down 1.87%
Currencies:
EURUSD at 0.9729, up 0.26%GBPUSD at 1.1145, up 0.38%USDJPY at 146.79, down 0.08%AUDUSD at 0.6295, up 0.31%USDCAD at 1.3798, down 0.12%Dollar Index at 113.04, down 0.25%
Ten-Year Govt Bond Yields:
U.S. at 3.898%, down 0.09% Germany at 2.281%, down 2.65%France at 2.88%, down 2.17%U.K. at 4.29%, down 3.14%Japan at 0.246%, down 1.60%
Commodities:
Crude Oil WTI Futures (Nov) at $87.61, up 0.39%Brent Oil Futures (Dec) at $92.91, up 0.50%Gold Futures (Dec) at $1,683.25, up 0.34%
Cryptocurrencies:
Bitcoin at $19,026.89, down 0.65%Ethereum at $1,279.04, down 1.51%BNB at $265.80, down 2.39% XRP at $0.4569, down 6.13%Cardano at $0.3636, down 7.81%
For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com
April 17, 2026 15:29 ET The ongoing conflict in the Middle East continues to raise concerns for policymakers who worry about the impact of the supply shock and high energy prices on the real economy. Producer price data and various survey results on the housing market were the main news from the U.S. this week. In Europe, industrial production data for the euro area gained attention. GDP figures out of China and the policy move by the Singapore central bank were in focus in Asia.