Charting the Markets: Stocks Sliding as Central Banks Decide

Global stocks are falling for a fourth session in a day dominated by central bank decisions. The Reserve Bank of New Zealand cut interest rates while The Bank of Korea and The Swiss National Bank kept rates at a record low. The Bank of England followed suit, holding borrowing costs at a record low 0.5 percent. Emerging-markets equities are sinking for a seventh day, the longest losing stretch since August, as the prospect of a U.S. interest rate hike next week lessens the appeal of riskier assets. European stocks are slipping for the seventh session in eight.

New Zealand's dollar rose against all but one of its major peers after the nation's central bank signaled today's rate cut should be enough to return inflation to target. The RBNZ lowered the official cash rate a quarter percentage point to 2.5 percent, the fourth reduction this year. Any more cuts risk further igniting Auckland's property boom. Economists still aren't convinced the RBNZ is finished. ASB Bank and HSBC are among the banks forecasting further policy loosening in 2016. The New Zealand dollar is the best performing major currency this quarter against the U.S. dollar, rising 5 percent.