Stock markets across the globe are trading at record levels on Wednesday, but federal governments are planning to cut their pandemic era stimulus packages. The Federal Reserve, as mentioned in a previous story, is close to cutting its pandemic era monetary policies. European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde said that an interest rate hike was “very unlikely” in 2022. Some investors believe the Bank of England might be the first central bank to raise interest rates, and the Reserve Bank of Australia has been noncommittal on when it will raise rates. The markets are shifting with U.S. Treasury and EU bonds falling slightly. U.S. Treasury yields dropped to 1.5296% and European stock markets—STOXX—reached all-time highs for the second day in a row. U.S. stock markets were soaring on Tuesday. U.S. futures are experiencing mixed results while the MSCI world index rose 0.02%. However, the Aussie rose 0.15% while the U.S. dollar index fell to 94. Oil prices fell as oil stocks made more gains. Brent crude dropped over 2% to $82.96 while U.S. WTI fell 2.4% to $81.90.
