1) Stocks and commodities traded lower as inflation fears accelerate
Global equities edged lower on Monday, including safe assets such as gold, as inflation fears continued to pressure the market in every direction.
In the U.S. Dow Jones closed 1.99% lower, S&P 500 dropped 3.20% and Nasdaq fell 4.29%.
The pan-European Stoxx 600 closed 2.90% lower, while DAX and FTSE fell 2.15% and 2.32%, respectively.
The international benchmark Brent crude fell 5.7% to close at $105.94 a barrel, while the U.S. West Texas Intermediate dropped 6.1%,to $103.09 a barrel.
Gold prices extended losses on Monday to fall more than 1%. As of 8:48 local time in Thailand on Tuesday, Gold Spot was at $1,854.90 per ounce, dropping 0.19%.
2) Janet Yellen says financial system is in working order, but volatility may continues
The U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said that the U.S. financial system is in working order, but added that she would not be surprised to see market turbulence keep up into the summer as the Russian war in Ukraine and the lockdown in China to curb Covid-19 outbreak are making some goods more expensive.
3) Japanese March household spending shows first fall in 3 months
Japan’s household spending in March fell for the first time in three months, according to the government data showed on Tuesday.
Household spending dropped 2.3% in March, compared to the same period of last year, but still better than Reuters’ median market estimate for a 2.8% drop in March.
Japanese consumers are on edge of rising living costs despite some relaxing Covid-19 measures.
In the first three months of 2022, Japan’s inflation rate was 0.2%, 0.6% and 0.8%, respectively.
