The U.S. Dollar (CURRENCY:USD) hit 17 months low against the Japanese yen today, which fuelled speculations that the regulators will engage in talks to contain the run in yen. During the late Asian hours, USD slipped by as much as 0.82% to 110.42 against the yen. The currency pair has witnessed a depreciation of 8% this year so far.

Mixed Fed outlook

Meanwhile, both the Euro and the Sterling remained under pressure against the greenback. EUR/USD fell 0.25% to 1.1361, and GBP/USD slipped 0.36% to 1.4208 during the day. The slump in Sterling came despite the Markit services purchasing managers index report that ticked up to 53.7 in March from 52.7 in February.

On the other hand, most of the equities witnessed a sharp slump today on account of weak commodity prices alongside increased expectations of a rate hike that followed a hawkish comment from another Federal Reserve official. Among the Asian indices, Nikkei 225 plummeted the most as it inched down 2.42% to 15,732.82. The uncontrolled appreciation in Yen led to a bearish momentum in Japanese equities. In European markets, Germany’s DAX posted the bigger loss of 2.60% to 9,566.24. Germany factory orders dipped 1.2% in February, which marks the lowest level in six months.

Oil concerns remain

iPath S&P GSCI Crude Oil Total Return (NYSEARCA:OIL) tumbled further today, dampening the investor sentiment across the markets. The fall in the oil prices was led by speculations that the OPEC and non-OPEC members meet in Doha this month is less likely to fetch the anticipated solution to oversupply concerns. The Brent Crude fell 0.32% to $37.57, and the West Texas Intermediate dipped 0.20% to $35.63 during the early European hours.

Meanwhile, a mixed tone by the Federal Officials over the monetary tightening policy has further deteriorated the Dollar-denominated oil prices.