<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
This Monday, stock markets<\/strong> open slightly lower, after a complicated first week of 2022. Investors<\/strong> remain wary of the threat of rising interest rates<\/strong> and a surge in Covid-19 infections<\/strong>.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Meanwhile, the U.S. Treasury<\/strong> is breaking a new two-year record. Last week, the U.S. Federal Reserve<\/strong> announced a tighter policy to combat inflation<\/strong>. The data showing a dynamic labor market<\/strong> in the United States<\/strong> had stimulated the markets<\/strong> during the holiday season.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n By 9:00 am, European indices<\/strong> were down, with the German DAX<\/strong> losing 0.48%, the Euro STOXX<\/strong> was down 0.26% and the British FTSE 100<\/strong> (.FTSE) was down 0.1%.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n In Asia, the MSCI<\/strong> index, which includes the majority of stocks in the Asia-Pacific region excluding Japan<\/strong> (.MIAPJ0000PUS) rose 0.6%. Benefiting from very low interest rates that have allowed for strong growth in recent years, technology stocks<\/strong> were the first victims of this global downturn.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n These numbers follow those of Wall Street<\/strong> as the S&P 500<\/strong> Index is off to its worst start since 2016. Investors<\/strong> are keeping a close eye on U.S. inflation<\/strong> data, which is due out this week. In particular, they are concerned that core inflation<\/strong> will hit its highest level in decades at 5.4%<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Yields<\/strong> on 10-year U.S. Treasuries<\/strong> hit 1.80% in early trading, a score last seen in early 2020. The dollar<\/strong> edged up to 95.878, while the euro<\/strong> traded at $1.1337, down 0.2%.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n In commodities, gold was at $1,796 an ounce. After the tense situation in Kazakhstan<\/strong> and the breakdowns in Libya<\/strong>‘s producing oil fields, oil is stabilizing after climbing 5% last week. Thus, Brent<\/strong> crude oil<\/strong> settled at $81.79 a barrel, and U.S.<\/strong> crude oil<\/strong> rose to $78.93.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n