World Markets Focus On Rate Cut Possibilities

Market sentiment remained largely dominated by expectations and speculations about rate cuts by major central banks, particularly the Federal Reserve. Hawkish comments by a Fed official added to fears of rates remaining higher for longer, ahead of the PCE-based inflation data release and Chairman Powell's speech scheduled for Friday.

Wall Street Futures are close to the flatline. Major European benchmarks are trading higher. DAX touched a record high despite an unexpected fall in retail sales in Germany. Asian shares too finished on a mostly positive note.

The Dollar Index gained amidst hawkish comments from a Fed official that triggered rate cut uncertainties. Bond yields mostly hardened. Crude oil prices jumped amidst renewed supply concerns. Gold rallied despite rate cut uncertainties. Cryptocurrencies mostly gained.

Here is a glimpse of the major world markets at this hour.

Stock Indexes:

DJIA (US30) at 39,765.00, up 0.01%
S&P 500 (US500) at 5,250.20, up 0.03%
Germany's DAX at 18,506.85, up 0.17%
U.K.'s FTSE 100 at 7,955.19, up 0.29%
France's CAC 40 at 8,242.39, up 0.46%
Euro Stoxx 50 at 5,099.05, up 0.34%
Japan's Nikkei 225 at 40,151.00, down 1.57%
Australia's S&P ASX 200 at 7,896.90, up 0.99%
China's Shanghai Composite at 3,010.66, up 0.59%
Hong Kong's Hang Seng at 16,541.42, up 0.91%

Currencies:

EUR/USD at 1.0789, down 0.34%
GBP/USD at 1.2616, down 0.18%
USD/JPY at 151.40, up 0.06%
AUD/USD at 0.6494, down 0.60%
USD/CAD at 1.3598, up 0.23%
Dollar Index at 104.57, up 0.21%

Ten-Year Govt Bond Yields:

U.S. at 4.224%, up 0.62%
Germany at 2.3175%, up 1.11%
France at 2.824%, up 1.33%
U.K. at 3.9990%, up 1.76%
Japan at 0.702%, down 0.57%

Commodities:

Brent Oil Futures (Jun) at $86.14, up 0.85%.
Crude Oil WTI Futures (May) at $82.23, up 1.08%.
Gold Futures (Jun) at $2,233.50, up 0.94%.

Cryptocurrencies:

Bitcoin at $70,618.84, up 0.71%
Ethereum at $3,584.06, up 0.13%
BNB at $585.72, up 1.27%
Solana at $186.06, down 0.20%
XRP at $0.6205, up 0.33%.

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