Recession Fears Haunt Markets Again

A strengthening Dollar, rising interest rates and the continuing lockdowns in China exacerbated the fears of a recession, dragging down stock markets worldwide. Asian markets closed in the red whereas European markets are trading with deep losses. Wall Street futures are also trading in negative territory. The Dollar Index touched a fresh 20-year high of 104.19. Bond yields continued to increase to reflect the increased cost of borrowing. Crude prices dropped as Dollar’s strength and fears of China’s lockdown impacts continued to weigh. Gold is down around percent. Cryptocurrencies continued to decline.

Caution also prevails ahead of Wednesday’s release of the U.S. inflation numbers.

Here is a snapshot of the world markets at this hour across stocks, currencies, bonds, commodities and cryptocurrencies.

Stock Indexes:

DJIA (US30) at 32,476.80, down 1.28%
S&P 500 (US500) at 4,062.60 down 1.47%
Germany’s DAX at 13,552.27, down 0.89%
U.K.’s FTSE 100 at 7,322.25, down 0.89%
France’s CAC 40 at 6,183.14, down 1.20%
Euro Stoxx 50 at 3,584.95, down 1.22%
Japan’s Nikkei 225 at 26,319.34, down 2.53%
Australia’s S&P ASX 200 at 7,120.70, down 1.18%
China’s Shanghai Composite at 3,004.14, up 0.09%
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng at 20,001.96, down 3.81% (May, 6)

Currencies:

EURUSD at 1.0514, down 0.35%
GBPUSD at 1.2286 down 0.41%
USDJPY at 131.13, up 0.43%
AUDUSD at 0.7006, down 1.00%
USDCAD at 1.2927, up 0.17%
Dollar Index at 104.02, up 0.35%

Ten-Year Govt Bond Yields:

U.S. at 3.183%, up 1.88%
Germany at 1.1350%, down 0.61%
France at 1.658%, down 0.60%
U.K. at 2.0365%, up 1.98%
Japan at 0.242%, up 0.62%

Commodities:

Crude Oil WTI Futures (Jun) at $108.33, down 1.31%
Brent Oil Futures (Jul) at $111.16, down 1.09%
Gold Futures (Jun) at $1,864.51, down 0.97%

Cryptocurrencies:

Bitcoin at $33,654.94, down 2.98%
Ethereum at $2,461.42, down 3.98%
BNB at $343.70, down 4.55%
XRP at $0.5474, down 4.75%
Solana at $74.81, down 4.57%

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