Global stock markets fell sharply on Thursday (3rd), gold prices held steady, and the U.S. dollar weakened as investors were affected by concerns about the outlook for inflation and interest rates from major central banks around the world.

Fears of worsening inflation from the European Central Bank and Bank of England spooked investors on Thursday, while Facebook shares tumbled on pessimistic results, and the update further spooked traders, said Mikael Jacoby, head of European sales trading at Oddo Securities in Paris: “Meta shares tumbled. Had a big impact, like a real earthquake.”

Major European stock markets fell as the Bank of England raised interest rates for the second time in three months, which was widely expected, in hopes of boosting the pound and the euro. Analysts said the pan-European STOXX 600 index fell about 1.8%, while the MSCI index of global shares fell 1.2%. Inflationary pressures also weighed on bonds as the European Central Bank kept policy unchanged on Thursday as expected.

On Wall Street, Meta shares tumbled, hampering big tech’s upbeat earnings outlook. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell about 1.5%, the S&P 500 fell more than 2% and the Nasdaq Composite fell more than 3%.

The dollar index was down 0.779%, while the euro was up 1.25% at $1.1444. The 10-year U.S. Treasury yield rose 6.3 basis points to 1.829%.

U.S. crude rose 2.2% to $90.20 a barrel on the day, while Brent rose 1.73% to $91.02 a barrel.