Market sentiment remained cautious as stubborn inflation in the U.K. renewed fears of central bank action on the monetary policy front. Market focus is now on the Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell's congressional testimony due later in the day as well as the interest rate decision by the Bank of England on Thursday.
European benchmarks are trading mostly higher. Wall Street Futures are trading with mild gains. Asian stocks finished mostly on a negative note amidst disappointment over policy support from Beijing.
Dollar and the Dollar Index are firm. Bond yields mostly hardened amidst U.K. inflation that exceeded forecasts. Crude oil prices are firm near the flatline. Gold declined ahead of Fed Chair's congressional testimony. Cryptocurrencies surged ahead amidst an ETF frenzy.
Here is a snapshot of the world markets at this hour across stocks, currencies, bonds, commodities and cryptocurrencies.
Stock Indexes:
DJIA (US30) at 34,078.70, up 0.07% S&P 500 (US500) at 4,392.60, up 0.09% Germany's DAX at 16,139.45, up 0.17% U.K.'s FTSE 100 at 7,578.70, up 0.12% France's CAC 40 at 7,294.79, up 0.01%Euro Stoxx 50 at 4,348.05, up 0.11%Japan's Nikkei 225 at 33,575.14, up 0.56% Australia's S&P ASX 200 at 7,314.90, down 0.58% China's Shanghai Composite at 3,197.90, down 1.31% Hong Kong's Hang Seng at 19,218.35, down 1.98%
Currencies:
EUR/USD at 1.0917, down 0.01%GBP/USD at 1.2702, down 0.49%USD/JPY at 141.93, up 0.34%AUD/USD at 0.6767, down 0.27%USD/CAD at 1.3224, down 0.10%Dollar Index at 102.61, up 0.06%
Ten-Year Govt Bond Yields:
U.S. at 3.738%, up 0.24% Germany at 2.4080%, up 0.08%France at 2.928%, down 0.02%U.K. at 4.4425%, up 2.46%Japan at 0.374%, down 0.27%
Commodities:
Brent Oil Futures (Aug) at $75.93, up 0.04%Crude Oil WTI Futures (Aug) at $71.22, up 0.04%Gold Futures (Aug) at $1,944.75, down 0.15%
Cryptocurrencies:
Bitcoin at $28,926.75, up 7.95%Ethereum at $1,814.31, up 4.88%BNB at $248.28, up 3.13% XRP at $0.4955, up 2.37%Cardano (ADA) at $0.2788, up 7.91%
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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.