Rate cut expectations from the Fed faded following Fed Chair Jerome Powell's hawkish comments on Tuesday. Powell, on Tuesday said that further rate cuts by the Federal Reserve are not guaranteed given the challenging situation of inflation rising and job market cooling.
Wall Street Futures are trading with mild gains as Fed-led losses were limited by the renewed optimism around AI. Benchmarks in Europe are trading deep in the red amidst an unexpected decline in business sentiment in Germany. Earlier, the Asian markets had finished trading on a mostly positive note. The six-currency Dollar Index rallied as rate cut expectations sobered following Fed Chair Jerome Powell's speech. Ten-year bond yields have eased across most regions. Both the crude oil benchmarks have rallied. Gold slipped in the wake of hawkish comments by the Fed Chair. Cryptocurrencies are trading on a mixed note. Here is a snapshot of the major world markets at this hour.
Stock Indexes:
DJIA (US30) at 46,322.60, up 0.06% S&P 500 (US500) at 6,667.90, up 0.16%Germany's DAX at 23,601.50, down 0.12% U.K.'s FTSE 100 at 9,215.35, down 0.09% France's CAC 40 at 7,847.23, down 0.31%Euro Stoxx 50 at 5,468.35, down 0.07% Japan's Nikkei 225 at 45,650.50, up 0.34%Australia's S&P ASX 200 at 8,764.50, down 0.92%China's Shanghai Composite at 3,853.64, up 0.83% Hong Kong's Hang Seng at 26,518.65, up 1.37%
Currencies:
EUR/USD at 1.1758, down 0.48%GBP/USD at 1.3472, down 0.40%USD/JPY at 148.38, up 0.50%AUD/USD at 0.6607, up 0.21%USD/CAD at 1.3874, up 0.29% Dollar Index at 97.67, up 0.42%
Ten-Year Govt Bond Yields:
U.S. at 4.110%, down 0.24% Germany at 2.7407%, down 0.41%France at 3.562%, down 0.17%U.K. at 4.6670%, down 0.34%Japan at 1.651%, down 0.24%
Commodities:
Brent Oil Futures (Nov) at $68.20, up 0.84%.Crude Oil WTI Futures (Nov) at $64.00, up 0.93%.Gold Futures (Dec) at $3,797.92, down 0.47%.
Cryptocurrencies:
Bitcoin at $112,834.45, down 0.16%Ethereum at $4,180.26, down 0.36%XRP at $2.87, up 0.30%BNB at $1,026.67, up 2.70%Solana at $211.03, down 3.52%
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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.