Anxiety about monetary policy outlook was back in focus as markets brace for a slew of central bank decisions. The Fed's interest rate review is due on Wednesday whereas Bank of England and ECB would announce decisions on Thursday. The consumer price as well as producer price inflation readings due from the U.S. before the Fed's monetary policy decision has also added to the anxiety.
Wall Street Futures reveal mild losses. European benchmarks are trading in a mixed pattern. Asian stocks finished trading on a mostly positive note.
Dollar Index edged up. Bond yields moved mixed. A weak demand outlook dragged down crude oil prices. Gold traded lower amidst waning optimism about early rate cuts by the Fed. Cryptocurrencies declined.
Here is a glimpse of the major world markets at this hour.
Stock Indexes:
DJIA (US30) at 36,227.00, down 0.06% S&P 500 (US500) at 4,598.50, down 0.13% Germany's DAX at 16,752.22, down 0.04% U.K.'s FTSE 100 at 7,504.70, down 0.66% France's CAC 40 at 7,536.52, up 0.13%Euro Stoxx 50 at 4,527.25, up 0.09%Japan's Nikkei 225 at 32,791.80, up 1.56% Australia's S&P ASX 200 at 7,199.00, up 0.06% China's Shanghai Composite at 2,991.44, up 0.74%Hong Kong's Hang Seng at 16,187.00, down 0.84%
Currencies:
EUR/USD at 1.0764, up 0.03%GBP/USD at 1.2579, up 0.26%USD/JPY at 146.20, up 0.88%AUD/USD at 0.6561, down 0.25%USD/CAD at 1.3594, up 0.05% Dollar Index at 104.06, up 0.05% Ten-Year Govt Bond Yields:
U.S. at 4.262%, up 0.36% Germany at 2.2560%, down 0.53%France at 2.812%, down 0.21%U.K. at 4.0925%, up 1.22%Japan at 0.756%, down 2.58%
Commodities:
Brent Oil Futures (Feb) at $75.09, down 0.99%.Crude Oil WTI Futures (Jan) at $70.41, down 1.15%.Gold Futures (Feb) at $2,010.05, down 0.22%.
Cryptocurrencies:
Bitcoin at $42,431.42, down 3.03%Ethereum at $2,248.78, down 3.84%BNB at $236.85, down 1.01% XRP at $0.6267, down 4.48%Solana (SOL) at $69.75, down 2.99%.
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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.