U.K 10 year yield slide record low after Moody's downgrade country rating to negative

U.K. 10-year Gilt yields have dropped below 1% for the first time to hit a new record low. The fall came after Moody's downgraded its U.K. sovereign rating to negative from stable, citing diminished policy predictability and economic effectiveness. Meanwhile, 10-year U.S. Treasury yields have extended their fall to 1.47%, tumbling 10 basis points this session.

Mario Draghi starts his corporate-bond buying program ow, he's pushed down borrowing costs in Europe toward unprecedented levels, with the average yield on euro investment-grade company notes tumbling to 1%. "The prospect of average yields below 1% is very scary, "Investors are being pushed outside their comfort zone to sectors like high-yield debt, where they may not have expertise."

The Reserve Bank of India also kept its key lending rate unchanged - at 6.5% - stating it would monitor economic developments for any further actions.Australia's Central Bank held its powder dry overnight as the nation's robust Q1 report card curbed the need for additional monetary stimulus. The RBA left its benchmark cash rate unchanged a month after it unveiled a 25 basis point cut, which took rates to their current record low of 1.75%.

Japanese stocks fell by 2.3%

Nikkei fell by the most in a month overnight and the yen strengthened after Prime Minister Shinzo Abe moved to delay a sales-tax hike for more than two years. There are also concerns that the postponement could lead to a credit rating downgrade, increasing the cost of foreign funding and further raising doubts over the sustainability of the nation's public debt - which currently exceeds 200% of its GDP. Nikkei -2.3%.