Mixed earnings updates, rising tensions in Middle East and fears of interest rates not falling any time soon dampened market sentiment early on Thursday.
Wall Street Futures are trading with mild losses. European benchmarks are trading deep in the red. Asian stocks closed with deep losses.
Fed fears kept the Dollar firm above the flatline. Bond yields hardened ahead of the speech by Fed Chair Jerome Powell. Crude Oil supply concerns eased amidst the prospect of easing sanctions on Venezuela. Gold surged ahead as the escalating tensions in Middle East spurred safe haven demand. Cryptocurrencies have declined. Here is a snapshot of the major world markets at this hour.
Stock Indexes:
DJIA (US30) at 33,582.10, down 0.25% S&P 500 (US500) at 4,303.70, down 0.25% Germany's DAX at 15,043.85, down 0.34% U.K.'s FTSE 100 at 7,517.50, down 0.93% France's CAC 40 at 6,912.25, down 0.77%Euro Stoxx 50 at 4,092.35, down 0.33%Japan's Nikkei 225 at 31,430.62, down 1.86% Australia's S&P ASX 200 at 6,981.60, down 1.36% China's Shanghai Composite at 3,005.39, down 1.74%Hong Kong's Hang Seng at 17,254.00, down 2.94%
Currencies:
EUR/USD at 1.0539, up 0.04%GBP/USD at 1.2119, down 0.17%USD/JPY at 149.85, down 0.05%AUD/USD at 0.6304, down 0.51%USD/CAD at 1.3726, up 0.08% Dollar Index at 106.60, up 0.03% Ten-Year Govt Bond Yields:
U.S. at 4.979%, up 1.53% Germany at 2.9470%, up 0.89%France at 3.580%, up 0.63%U.K. at 4.7590%, up 2.10%Japan at 0.839%, up 3.71%
Commodities:
Brent Oil Futures (Dec) at $90.41, down 1.19%.Crude Oil WTI Futures (Dec) at $86.35, down 1.05%.Gold Futures (Dec) at $1,963.95, down 0.22%.
Cryptocurrencies:
Bitcoin at $28,357.39, down 0.50%Ethereum at $1,552.34, down 1.32%BNB at $210.21, down 1.15% XRP at $0.481, down 1.52%Solana (SOL) at $23.88, down 0.15%.
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Market Analysis
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.