“The narrative around policy stimulus and better economic data seems to be losing its sway,” said Sameer Samana, senior global market strategist at Wells Fargo Investment Institute.

Australia’s dollar fell after the country reported a much bigger decline in employment than forecast for May, with the unemployment rate surging almost a percentage point.

On the virus front, Texas reported an 11% surge in hospitalizations, the biggest 24-hour increase since June 4. Brazil registered a record 34,918 new infections, while China is escalating containment measures in Beijing including canceling flights.

The thin volume in U.S. equities on Wednesday exacerbated swings, including a drop that began around the time newspapers published summaries of John Bolton’s critical book about President Donald Trump.

Elsewhere, crude oil futures declined after two sessions of gains.

These are some key events coming up:

• Policy decisions from the Bank of England and the Swiss National Bank are due on Thursday.

These are some of the main moves in markets:

Stocks

• Futures on the S&P 500 retreated 1% as of 9:25 a.m. in Tokyo. The index fell 0.4% Wednesday.
• Japan’s Topix index slid 0.9%.
• Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index fell 0.4%.
• South Korea’s Kospi lost 0.4%.
• Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index declined 1.2%.

Currencies

• The yen was at 106.76 per dollar, up 0.2%.
• The offshore yuan was at 7.0845 per dollar, down 0.1%.
• The euro bought $1.1239, little changed.

Bonds

• The yield on 10-year Treasury yields fell four basis point to 0.70%.
• Australia’s 10-year yield fell four basis points to 0.88%.

Commodities

• West Texas Intermediate crude oil retreated 1.5% to $37.39 a barrel.
• Gold was at $1,728.26 an ounce.