Anxiety ahead of the release of the recent FOMC minutes and fears of stringent trade tariffs by the new U.S. administration weighed on global market sentiment.
Wall Street Futures have edged up. European benchmarks are trading in the red. Asian benchmarks also closed on a mostly negative note.
The Dollar Index edged down after touching a high of 107.50. Bond yields mostly hardened. Crude oil and Gold rebounded after Monday's massive correction triggered by reports of a ceasefire in Middle East. Cryptocurrencies mostly declined.
Fed rate cut expectations remain strong, with the CME FedWatch tool showing the likelihood of a quarter-point Fed rate cut in December at 60 percent and the probability of a pause at 40 percent.
Here is a snapshot of the major world markets at this hour.
Stock Indexes:
DJIA (US30) at 44,739.50, up 0.01% S&P 500 (US500) at 5,990.90, up 0.06% Germany's DAX at 19,311.75, down 0.50% U.K.'s FTSE 100 at 8,263.58, down 0.34% France's CAC 40 at 7,209.26, down 0.66%Euro Stoxx 50 at 4,765.75, down 0.71% Japan's Nikkei 225 at 38,411.50, down 0.84%Australia's S&P ASX 200 at 8,359.40, down 0.69% China's Shanghai Composite at 3,259.76, down 0.12% Hong Kong's Hang Seng at 19,159.20, up 0.04%
Currencies:
EUR/USD at 1.0518, up 0.23%GBP/USD at 1.2588, up 0.16%USD/JPY at 153.76, down 0.30%AUD/USD at 0.6492, down 0.15%USD/CAD at 1.4090, up 0.74% Dollar Index at 106.78, down 0.03%
Ten-Year Govt Bond Yields:
U.S. at 4.301%, up 0.84% Germany at 2.2095%, up 0.25%France at 3.026%, up 0.27%U.K. at 4.4130%, up 1.57%Japan at 1.057%, down 0.28%
Commodities:
Brent Oil Futures (Feb) at $73.01, up 0.73%.Crude Oil WTI Futures (Jan) at $69.50, up 0.81%.Gold Futures (Feb) at $2,652.95, up 0.39%.
Cryptocurrencies:
Bitcoin at $92,918.20, down 5.61%Ethereum at $3,352.03, down 4.47%Solana at $232.19, down 8.62%BNB at $628.75, down 5.75% XRP (XRP) at $1.36, down 8.92%
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Business News
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.