Global Markets Fall Ahead of Fed Interest Rate Decision, Powell Comments Eyed

By Dow Jones Newswires StaffGlobal markets were mostly lower ahead of the U.S. Federal Reserve's interest rate decision later Wednesday, where the central bank is expected to keep rates steady.All eyes, however, will be on Fed Chair Jerome Powell's comments, amid trade tensions and uncertain economic growth.U.S. futures for the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average were flat. London's FTSE 100 index was down 0.3%, Germany's DAX was 0.4% lower and the Stoxx Europe 600 index was down 0.3%. However, France's CAC and Italy's FTSE MIB were up 0.04% and 0.3%, respectively.Stocks in Asia were mixed as Japan's Nikkei 225 index declined 0.2%, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng climbed 0.1%. China's benchmark Shanghai Composite fell 0.1%.The dollar recovered marginally after hitting a five-month low Tuesday ahead of the Federal Reserve's interest-rate decision at 1800 GMT. The DXY dollar index rises 0.3% to 103.518 after hitting a low of 103.197 on Tuesday.Eurozone bond yields slightly extended their fall--the 10-year Bund yield falls 4.5 basis points to last trade at 2.773%, according to Tradeweb.U.S. Treasurys were little changed ahead of the Fed's widely expected decision to keep interest rates on hold, but yields have some more room to fall, Pepperstone's Michael Brown said in a note. The 10-year Treasury yield rose 1 basis point to last trade at 4.292%, while the two-year yield was flat at 4.044%, according to LSEG data.Bitcoin was up 1.4% at $83,395.In commodities, Brent crude dropped 0.3% to $70.37 a barrel, and WTI crude fell 0.6% to $66.53 a barrel. The European benchmark price for natural gas, the Dutch futures contract TTF, was up 3.9% to 42.33 euros a megawatt hour.Write to Barcelona Editors at [email protected]