Markets Brace For The Fed's Likely Pause

CANBERA (dpa-AFX) - Global market sentiment remains cautious ahead of a widely expected monetary policy pause by the Federal Reserve. Anticipation of a forward guidance on the next FOMC also weighed on sentiment.Wall Street Futures are directionless ahead of the looming big tech earning updates. Major benchmarks in Europe are trading in the red. Earlier in the day, Asian markets had finished trading on a mostly positive note, helped by a surge in semiconductor majors Samsung and SK Hynix.The six-currency Dollar Index edged up. Bond yields hardened across regions while markets wait for interest rate decisions by the Federal Reserve, European Central Bank as well as Bank of Japan.Crude oil prices increased more than a percent amidst fears of a fresh military offensive against Iran after the U.S. midterm elections. Houthi attack on a Saudi refinery also weighed on sentiment. Gold dropped more than a quarter percent. Cryptocurrencies rallied emphatically.Here is a snapshot of the major world markets at this hour.Stock Indexes:DJIA (US30) at 52,285.00, down 0.18%S&P 500 (US500) at 7,734.20, up 0.15%Germany's DAX at 25,569.80, down 0.08%U.K.'s FTSE 100 at 10,653.44, down 0.31%France's CAC 40 at 7,877.78, down 0.12%Euro Stoxx 50 at 6,145.85, down 0.31%Japan's Nikkei 225 at 64,232.00, up 1.52%Australia's S&P ASX 200 at 8,847.30, down 0.03%China's Shanghai Composite at 3,681.47, up 0.91%Hong Kong's Hang Seng at 23,094.83, up 0.23%South Korea's KOSPI at 6,012.44, up 6.63%Currencies:Dollar Index at 102.40, up 0.08%EUR/USD at 1.1126, up 0.00%GBP/USD at 1.3285, down 0.16%USD/JPY at 157.86, down 0.06%USD/CHF at 0.8302, up 0.14%AUD/USD at 0.7027, up 0.01%Ten-Year Govt Bond Yields:U.S. at 5.005%, up 0.38%Germany at 3.3686%, up 0.39%France at 4.953%, up 0.92%U.K. at 5.3594%, up 0.31%Japan at 2.830%, up 1.25%Commodities:Brent Oil Futures (Jan) at $110.95, up 1.41%Crude Oil WTI Futures (Dec) at $101.29, up 1.39%Gold Futures (Dec) at $4,060.12, down 0.36%Silver Futures (Dec) at $53.75, down 1.40%Cryptocurrencies:Bitcoin at $81,401.22, up 1.95%Ethereum at $2,367.25, up 2.34%BNB at $753.97, up 2.05%XRP at $1.33, up 2.03%Solana at $102.85, up 2.88%Copyright(c) 2026 RTTNews.com. All Rights ReservedCopyright RTT News/dpa-AFX