Fed Chairman Jerome Powell's speech caused strong markets’ movements. Powell said in his Jackson Hole speech last Friday the central bank “won’t back off in its fight against rapid inflation”. Interest rates will remain elevated for longer than markets expect according to Fed Chair Jerome Powell.

- Investors knew further rate rises were coming, and they have been divided between whether a 75-basis-point and a 50-basis-point hike by the Fed was coming next month.

- However, recent data highlighting continued strength in the labor market which had led to some speculating a more tempered pace of hikes could be forthcoming.

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Equities:

- Wall Street ended Friday with all three benchmarks more than 3% lower, as Federal Reserve Chief Jerome Powell's signal that the central bank would keep hiking rates to tame inflation nixed nascent hopes for a more modest path among some investors.

- High-growth and technology stocks dropped. Nvidia Corp and Amazon.com Inc fell 9.2% & 4.8%, having led gainers in the previous session. Meanwhile, Google-parent Alphabet Inc, Meta Platforms Inc, and Block Inc also dipped between 4.1% and 7.7%.

- the Nasdaq Composite lost 583.6 points or 4.44% to end at 12,547.4 points, while the S&P 500 lost 141.45 points or 3..37% to 4,057.66. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1,054 points or 3.17% to 32,189.

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Currency Market:

- The U.S. dollar touched a 20-year high against a basket of major currencies, as investors digest a pledge from Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell to keep interest rates higher in a bid to bring down surging inflation. The dollar index was trading at 109.26, pulling back from a new two-decade peak of 109.48 hit earlier in the trading session.

- The euro was down a quarter of a percent at $0.994, within sight of recent 20-year lows, while Sterling fell to a 2-1/2-year low of $1.1649 and was last down 0.5% to $1.1676. The dollar was up 0.8% at 138.81 yen, having hit its highest since July 21, while the offshore yuan fell to a fresh two-year low of 6.9321 per dollar. The kiwi hit its lowest since mid-July at $0.61.

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Commodities: Gold

- Gold prices sank to a one-month low on Monday following hawkish signals from the U.S. Federal Reserve.

- Spot gold prices slumped 0.7% to $1,720.20 an ounce, while gold futures sank 0.7% to $1,727.50 an ounce.

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Commodities: Oil

- Oil prices rose 1%, as expectations that OPEC would cut output if needed to support prices, coupled with conflict in Libya and rising demand amid soaring natural gas prices in Europe.

- WTI crude futures were up 45 cents, or 0.48%, to $93.51 a barrel. Brent crude futures rose 16 cents, or 0.16%, to $101.15 a barrel.
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