Let's take a look at the stock market.

Today, Asia-Pacific stock markets came under broad pressure, with both the Nikkei 225 Index and the Topix Index falling 1%. Hong Kong stocks opened lower and drifted down, with both the Hang Seng Index and the Hang Seng Tech Index dropping more than 3% during the session. By sector, pharmaceuticals and biotech, non-ferrous metals, and retail led the declines.

Yesterday, European bond markets suffered a violent sell-off, with the French 10-year government bond yield once rising to 4.96%, a new high since 2002, and the France-Germany spread widening to 1.4 percentage points, while Italian and Greek government bond yields also rose in tandem; the UK 30-year government bond yield broke through 6% for the first time. At the same time, the US 10-year Treasury yield once climbed to 5.34% during the session, the highest in nearly 24 years, before falling back to 5.24%. Some analysts warned that the market faintly exudes the sense that "a crisis is brewing."

This round of selling was mainly driven by renewed expectations of rising inflation and interest rates. Middle East conflicts pushed energy prices higher, with Brent crude oil futures breaking through the $100 per barrel mark on Thursday; at the same time, persistently strong US economic data intensified market fears that interest rates will remain elevated for a long time. Europe's own fiscal pressures in the bond market, along with forced liquidation of highly leveraged hedge fund positions, further amplified market volatility.

The violent swings in the bond market also dragged down the performance of risk assets. On Thursday, the pan-European STOXX 600 Index fell 1.3%, the FTSE 100 Index dropped 1.7%, European bank stocks came under obvious pressure, and the euro fell to its lowest level in more than a year; US stocks were relatively resilient, with the S&P 500 Index rising 0.2% and the Nasdaq 100 Index gaining 0.3%.

Federal Reserve Vice Chair Jefferson said policymakers should allow more time to assess whether further rate hikes are needed. As a result, market bets on a Fed rate hike in October fell sharply from 70% earlier in the week to about 27%. International Monetary Fund spokesperson Julie Kozack said at a regular press conference on October 1 that the US-Iran war has affected the world economy. In addition to countries with limited policy buffers and net energy importers being hit, those countries that have not yet integrated into the artificial intelligence supply chain and find it difficult to fully enjoy the related growth dividends are "especially noteworthy," and the situation is worrying.

Currently, investors are focusing on the US nonfarm payrolls data due tonight for new clues on the Fed's policy path.