Global stock markets were mixed Tuesday after a bond sell-off on Wall Street fueled anxiety about a possible U.S. economic slowdown and Australia raised interest rates. London, Shanghai and Hong Kong declined. Frankfurt opened higher and Tokyo gained. The yen, trading at two-decade lows, fell further to almost 133 to the dollar. Wall Street futures were lower after the benchmark S&P 500 index rose 0.3% on Monday and the market price of a 10-year Treasury bond fell. That increased its yield, or the difference between the day’s price and the payout at maturity. The difference between short- and long-term Treasury yields is narrowing, which is “making me a little nervous,” because it suggests investors think a U.S. recession is more likely, said Jeffrey Halley of Oanda in a report. “I don’t think the U.S. is at stagflation yet,” or a period with high inflation and low growth, “but if oil stays above $120.00 a barrel, it might soon be,” Halley said. Also Read: Asian stock markets higher after Wall St sinks further In early trading, the FTSE 100 in London lost 0.2% to 7,595.92 while Frankfurt’s DAX gained 1.3% to 14,653.82. The CAC in Paris added 1% to 6,548.78. Markets are swinging between gains and losses as investors weigh evidence about whether the Federal Reserve;’s interest rate hikes can cool inflation that is running at a four-decade high without tipping the U.S. economy into recession. On Wall Street, the S&P 500 future was off 0.6% and that for the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.5%. On Monday, the Dow edged up less than 0.1%. The Nasdaq composite gained 0.4% to 12,061.37. The yield on the 10-year Treasury, or the difference between the market price and the payout if held to maturity, jumped back above 3% to 3.04%, up from 2.95% late Friday. The Treasury yield is moving toward its levels from early and mid-May. Then, it reached its highest point since 2018 amid expectations for the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates aggressively. Bond buyers usually want a higher payout in exchange for tying up their money for longer periods. A flattening of the yield curve, or the long-term payout falling to match short-term bonds, is seen as an indicator of a possible recession because it shows investors expect economic conditions to be worse than they are now. In Asia, the Shanghai Composite Index lost less than 0.1% to 3,234.77 after Chinese authorities further eased anti-virus restrictions that shut down businesses in Shanghai and other major cities. The Nikkei 225 in Tokyo gained 0.1% to 27,943.95 while the Hang Seng in Hong Kong shed 0.8% to 21,481.75. Sydney’s S&P-ASX 200 sank 1.6% to 7,091.50 after the Australian central bank raised a key interest rate by 0.5 percentage points, its biggest margin in 22 years, to cool inflation that is at a two-decade high. The Kospi in Seoul tumbled 1.6% to 2,628.88 and India’s Sensex fell 1.2% to 54,992.34. New Zealand and Singapore declined while Jakarta advanced. In currency markets, the yen fell to 132.91 to the dollar from Monday’s 132.01. The yen has weakened because Japanese interest rates have stayed near record lows while U.S. and European rates rise. That helps Japanese exporters making their goods cheaper abroad but pushes up prices of imports for consumers and manufacturers.

The ruble plunged to a record low of less than 1 U.S. cent and most global stock markets declined Monday after Western nations moved to block some Russian banks from a global payments system. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has caused markets to swing wildly, given the potential impact on inflation, energy supplies and other economic repercussions. Putin's order that Russian nuclear weapons stand at increased readiness to launch ratcheted up tensions with Europe and the United States and revived dormant fears from the Cold War era. The Russian central bank raised its key rate to 20% from 9.5% in a desperate attempt to shore up the plummeting ruble and prevent a run on banks. That brought a temporary reprieve for the Russian currency, which bounced back to the level it was at last week, but only briefly. Also read: Asian shares, US futures fall as Ukraine conflict deepens The ruble has plunged more than 30% after the move to block Russian banks from the SWIFT payments system. The sanctions include restrictions meant to crimp the Russian central bank’s access to over $600 billion in reserves and hinder its ability to support the ruble. A weaker ruble is expected to cause inflation to surge, potentially angering Russians whose budgets will be stretched by soaring prices. It will also add to strains across Russia's financial systems. Germany's DAX fell 2.1% to 14,263.95 and the CAC 40 in Paris lost 2.3% to 6,595.83. Britain's FTSE 100 shed 1.7% to 7,365.29. In New York, the future for the S&P 500 was 1.6% lower and that for the Dow industrials declined 1.3%. Also read: World shares up, US futures sink as Russia moves toward Kyiv On Friday, the S&P 500 climbed 2.2%, notching its first weekly gain in three weeks. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 2.5% and the Nasdaq composite gained 1.6%. The Russell 2000 index rose 2.3%. The end of the month usually brings a raft of economic data, but for now the conflict is eclipsing other issues. “It’s all about the Russia-Ukraine situation and evolutions in that situation will drive market sentiment and direction,” Jeffrey Halley of Oanda said in a commentary. “President Putin will now have to accept that the ‘Western’ powers are prepared to accept quite a bit of economic pain now to punish Russia,” he said. Markets in Asia appeared to take the latest developments more calmly. Japan's Nikkei 225 index recovered from earlier losses to edge 0.2% higher to 26,526.82. The Hang Seng in Hong Kong lost 0.2% to 22,713.02. The Shanghai Composite index gained 0.3% to 3,462.31. The Kospi in Seoul climbed 0.8% to 2,699.18, while in Sydney the S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.7% to 7,049.10. Although Asia is unlikely to suffer direct damage from the war in Ukraine, higher energy prices are an unwelcome burden for oil-importing nations like Japan, especially while they are still struggling to recover from the pandemic. Underscoring deepening rifts due to the conflict, BP said Sunday it was exiting its 19.75% share in Rosneft, a state-controlled Russian oil and gas company, which it has held since 2013. That stake is currently valued at $14 billion. Oil prices surged Monday, with U.S. benchmark crude up $4.33, or 4.7%, at $95.92 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It lost $1.22 to 91.59 per barrel on Friday. Brent crude gained $4.20 to $98.32 per barrel, up 4.5% and approaching the $100 per barrel level it breached last week. The Ukraine conflict has heaped uncertainty atop other worries over interest rates and inflation. The U.S. Federal Reserve has suggested it will raise short-term interest rates next month by double its usual increase, the first rate increase since 2018. Higher U.S. rates tend to put downward pressure on all kinds of investments, and can have global repercussions. In currency trading, the U.S. dollar inched down to 115.61 Japanese yen from 115.77 yen. The euro rose to $1.1165 from $1.1157.

The benchmark index of Dhaka stock Exchange (DSE) fell for the third consecutive days on Tuesday. The investors preferred remaining on the sideline like the previous couple of days as the DSEX fell by 43.68 points or 0.62 per cent to settle at 6954.35 on Tuesday. The share and unit price of majority of companies decreased. The shares of 376 companies were traded on the day, of which 201 firms saw a fall in prices, 147 firms witnessed increase and 28 companies remained unchanged. Read: Coronavirus: Volatile share market braces for impact Among other DSE indices, the shariah-based DSES fell by 6.28 points or 0.42 per cent and the blue chip DSE-30to 19.76 points or 0.75 per cent. Over Tk 1293 crore was traded on DSE on the day.  The trade volume was Tk 1,275 crore in the previous day. Prime Textiles topped the gainers' list that rose 22 per cent followed by Evince Textiles, Far Chemical, Ring Shine Textiles, and Delta Spinners. Stocks of Beximco Ltd traded mostly that worth Tk 124 crore followed by IFIC Bank, Alif Industries, Maksons Spinning, and Orion Pharmaceuticals. Safko Spinning shed mostly with a 6.45 per cent drop followed by Mithun Knitting, Maksons Spinning, Bangladesh National Insurance, and Orion Pharmaceuticals. The Chattogram bourse also fell today. The CASPI, the main index of the Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE), dropped 134 points, or 0.65 per cent, to 20,404. Among 289 stocks traded, 116 rose, 150 fell and 23 remained unchanged.

Asian stock markets were mixed Friday after Wall Street fell following a report that President Joe Biden will propose raising taxes on wealthy investors. Shanghai, Hong Kong and Seoul rose while Tokyo and Sydney retreated. Wall Street’s benchmark S&P 500 index lost 0.9% overnight after Bloomberg News, citing unidentified sources, said Biden will propose raising taxes on people who make more than $1 million on stock trades. That added to a mix of better corporate profits and U.S. hiring, unease that inflation and interest rates might rise and renewed coronavirus infections that have prompted some governments to tighten anti-disease controls. Also read: Asian shares mixed as vaccine wait tempers Wall St optimism Investors are struggling “to navigate through a very muddled global outlook” and earnings reports that have “priced in a slow return to pre-pandemic life,” said Edward Moya of Oanda in a report. The Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.2% to 3,473.01 while the Nikkei 225 in Tokyo lost 0.7% to 28,983.31. The Hang Seng in Hong Kong gained 1% to 29,032.89. The Kospi in Seoul advanced 0.2% to 3,183.84 while Sydney’s S&P-ASX 200 shed 0.2% to 7,039.20. New Zealand rose while Singapore and Jakarta retreated. Selling on Wall Street was widespread following the report about Biden’s tax plan. According to Bloomberg, it would raise the capital gains tax to 39.6% for investors who make more than $1 million, or more than double the current rate for Americans in that income bracket. It said a separate surtax on investment income could boost the total tax rate for wealthy investors as high as 43.3%. Technology stocks, banks and companies that rely on consumer spending accounted for much of the skid. Treasury yields held mostly steady. The S&P 500 declined to 4,134.98. It is down 1.2% for the week after hitting a high on Friday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.9% to 33,815.90. The Nasdaq composite slid 0.9% to 13,818.41. The last round of U.S. government stimulus helped to lift retail investors in the biggest global market. Now, investors are weighing other proposals out of Washington, including tax changes and Biden’s proposed $2.3 million infrastructure spending package. Also read: Asian shares sink after tech rout pulls Nasdaq 3.5% lower Investors also are looking for signs of possible economic improvement as the bulk of companies in the S&P 500 are reporting quarterly results. Also Thursday, the Labor Department reported the number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits fell again last week to its lowest level since the pandemic struck. China, the world’s second-largest economy and a major importer, rebounded late last year and the United States is showing solid signs of recovery. Europe and other parts of the world lag behind. In energy markets, benchmark U.S. crude rose 33 cents to $61.76 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract advanced 8 cents on Thursday to $61.43. Brent crude, used to price international oils, gained 27 cents to $65.67 per barrel in London. It added 8 cents the previous session to $65.40 a barrel. The dollar declined to 107.94 yen from Thursday’s 108.10 yen. The euro advanced to $1.2024 from $1.2008.