Sentiment in global markets remains dominated by anxiety ahead of the looming monetary policy decision to be announced by the Federal Open Markets Committee on Wednesday. Adding to the fears are the job market updates due from the U.S. on Tuesday morning. The CME FedWatch tool that tracks the expectations of interest rate traders currently shows the likelihood of a quarter percentage rate cut by the Fed on Wednesday at 89.4 percent versus 86.2 percent a day ago.
Wall Street Futures have edged up ahead of the delayed JOLTS report and the weekly ADP figures. Benchmarks in Europe are trading on a mostly negative note. Asian markets mostly finished with losses.
The six-currency Dollar Index has edged up. Ten-year bond yields eased across regions. Crude oil prices rose mildly. Gold prices too gained. Cryptocurrencies mostly declined. Here is a snapshot of the major world markets at this hour.
Stock Indexes:
DJIA (US30) at 47,751.50, up 0.03% S&P 500 (US500) at 6,848.50, up 0.03%Germany's DAX at 24,138.50, up 0.34% U.K.'s FTSE 100 at 9,642.83, down 0.02% France's CAC 40 at 8,060.56, down 0.59%Euro Stoxx 50 at 5,715.05, down 0.18% Japan's Nikkei 225 at 50,655.10, up 0.14%Australia's S&P ASX 200 at 8,585.90, down 0.45%China's Shanghai Composite at 3,909.52, down 0.37%Hong Kong's Hang Seng at 25,434.23, down 1.29%
Currencies:
EUR/USD at 1.1638, up 0.02%GBP/USD at 1.3321, down 0.03%USD/JPY at 156.27, up 0.26%AUD/USD at 0.6640, up 0.30%USD/CAD at 1.3845, down 0.05% Dollar Index at 99.13, up 0.04%
Ten-Year Govt Bond Yields:
U.S. at 4.166%, down 0.17% Germany at 2.8482%, down 0.66%France at 3.570%, down 0.58%U.K. at 4.5180%, down 0.26%Japan at 1.965%, down 0.61%
Commodities:
Brent Oil Futures (Feb) at $62.60, up 0.18%.Crude Oil WTI Futures (Jan) at $59.01, up 0.22%.Gold Futures (Feb) at $4,232.40, up 0.35%.
Cryptocurrencies:
Bitcoin at $90,617.41, down 1.27%Ethereum at $3,133.50, up 0.15%XRP at $2.08, down 0.38%BNB at $888.42, down 1.97%Solana at $133.17, down 3.18%
For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com
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.