World equity markets were in a slump while gold prices stabilized and the dollar weakened as investor sentiment turned to worry following the bleak prospects of major central banks over inflation and rising interest rates.
Statements issued by the European Central Bank (ECB) and the Bank of England (BOE) on inflation have clouded investor sentiment while weak earnings reports by Meta Platform Inc or formerly Facebook added to investor ‘wounds’.
Major bourses in Europe began to decline after the BOE met expectations by raising interest rates for the second time which in turn supported Sterling and the Euro.
The pan-European STOXX 600 index was down 1.8% and MSCI’s worldwide stock gauge fell 1.2%.
On Wall Street, a slump in Meta Platform Inc.’s Facebook earnings report caused its shares to plummet and indirectly ended a recovery built on positive earnings from large tech companies.
The Dow Jones Industrial average was down 1.5%, the S&P 500 was down 2%and the Nasdaq Composite was down 3%.
In currency markets, the defensive mood has weighed on the US dollar after recording strong gains.
Inflationary pressures also affected bonds as the ECB maintained its policy as expected.
Meanwhile, the Turkish Lira was under pressure after the annual inflation rate reached 50% while the Russian Ruble fell due to tensions in Ukraine.
The dollar index fell 0.779% while the Euro rose 1.25% at $ 1.1444.
The 10 -year treasury yield note was up 6.3 basis points at 1.829% and the United States (US) 2 -year treasury yield added 4 basis points at 1.196%.
Oil prices continued to maintain upward momentum even after OPEC+ producers held on to a planned modest production increase with US crude rising 2.2% at $ 90.20 a barrel and Brent oil adding 1.73% at $ 91.02 a barrel.
