Global markets test interest rates

Global markets are trying to assess the level at which interest rates will peak after the US inflation data released yesterday, the Fed minutes and the statements of Fed officials. Wall Street indexes fell yesterday following the CPI data that created expectations of an additional interest rate hike. The S&P 500 finished the day with a 0.41 percent loss, while the Nasdaq 100 lost 0.89 percent. As of this morning, US futures indexes are slightly higher. In Asia, Japan's Nikkei 225 is positive with a 0.3 percent increase, while the negative impact of the news flow regarding Alibaba is seen in the Hong Kong and Chinese indexes. Alibaba's shares fell after the Financial Times reported that SoftBank Group Corp. is preparing to sell most of its shares in the Chinese technology giant. Although the strong export data released in China limited the losses to some extent, the CSI 300 and Hang Seng are down 0.2 percent. The Bloomberg Dollar Index has been falling for three days in a row and is at 1,222. The USD/TL continues to rise gradually and is traded at 19.3195. Some additional tightening steps may be appropriate According to the minutes of the Fed's March 21-22 Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting published yesterday evening, many officials withdrew their estimates of the level at which interest rates would peak following the bank failures and market turbulence experienced last month. According to the minutes, which indicated that the decision to increase interest by 25 basis points was unanimous, some officials withdrew their calls for a 50 basis point increase due to bank stress, while many officials appeared to be in favor of leaving interest rates unchanged in the first stage.