Markets Digest Inflation Spike And Fed's Rate Cut Caution

Markets responded in a mixed manner to hotter-than-expected inflation reading from the U.S. and caution about rate cuts sounded in the FOMC Minutes. Anxiety ahead of the interest rate decision by the ECB also weighed on sentiment.

The CME FedWatch tool that tracks the expectations of interest rate traders now shows a probability of 17 percent for a rate cut in June versus 66 percent a week earlier and 72 percent a month earlier.

Wall Street Futures reflect minor losses. Major European benchmarks are trading in negative territory. Asian shares mostly declined.

Dollar Index extended gains. Bond yields mostly hardened. Rate fears cast a gloom over crude oil prices as well. Gold rebounded after the plunge on Wednesday.
Cryptocurrencies rallied.

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

Stock Indexes:

DJIA (US30) at 38,397.20, down 0.17%
S&P 500 (US500) at 5,151.20, down 0.18%
Germany's DAX at 17,997.95, down 0.54%
U.K.'s FTSE 100 at 7,941.98, down 0.24%
France's CAC 40 at 8,033.87, down 0.14%
Euro Stoxx 50 at 4,973.15, down 0.55%
Japan's Nikkei 225 at 39,445.00, down 0.30%
Australia's S&P ASX 200 at 7,813.60, down 0.44%
China's Shanghai Composite at 3,034.25, up 0.23%
Hong Kong's Hang Seng at 17,095.03, down 0.26%

Currencies:

EUR/USD at 1.0730, down 0.12%
GBP/USD at 1.2534, up 0.03%
USD/JPY at 153.12, down 0.03%
AUD/USD at 0.6522, up 0.18%
USD/CAD at 1.3690, up 0.11%
Dollar Index at 105.29, up 0.04%

Ten-Year Govt Bond Yields:

U.S. at 4.548%, down 0.29%
Germany at 2.4485%, up 0.80%
France at 2.937%, up 0.58%
U.K. at 4.231%, up 1.93%
Japan at 0.862%, up 0.82%

Commodities:

Brent Oil Futures (Jun) at $89.98, down 0.55%.
Crude Oil WTI Futures (May) at $85.66, down 0.64%.
Gold Futures (Jun) at $2,353.05, up 0.20%.

Cryptocurrencies:

Bitcoin at $70,745.26, up 2.88%
Ethereum at $3,574.84, up 2.13%
BNB at $599.47, up 2.35%
Solana at $173.31, up 2.19%
XRP at $0.6156, up 1.27%.

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