Powell's hawkish outlook raises concerns for global growth and markets.

Interest rate hikes by European central banks are raising concerns about a global economic slowdown, increasing fears of a US recession and reducing the appeal of risk assets. Despite the Federal Reserve's aggressive rate-hike cycle, the US economy has remained afloat, but it remains to be seen whether it can continue to avoid a downturn. The spread on 2- and 10-year Treasury yields intermittently dipped to minus 100 basis points, a pessimistic sign about the US outlook. The global growth outlook is deteriorating quickly as major central banks are delivering more rate hikes and signalling that more tightening is coming.