Global markets are experiencing intense volatility, and while it seemed like a Black Monday for Wall Street was inevitable following a 13% overnight tumble of Japan’s Nikkei 225, stock indices are attempting to limit early session losses by midday trading in New York. The inflection point came after July’s services sector activity surveys revealed improved conditions from June and a stronger-than-expected expansion, easing fears of an imminent U.S. recession. In July, business sentiment in the U.S. services sector returned to expansion, with the ISM Services Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) rising from 48.8% to 51.4%, surpassing expectations of an increase to 51%. Before the ISM data release, traders speculated on an intra-meeting Fed interest rate cut after Chicago Fed President Austan Goolsbee stated in a CNBC interview that everything could be on the table. Following the data, market-implied probabilities for a 50-basis-point rate cut decreased from 100% to about 80%, while the likelihood of a smaller 25-basis-point increase rose from about 0% to 20%, according to the CME Group FedWatch Tool. After opening over ...