The first consequence of the prospect of an increase in interest rates was a generalized rise in US interest rates in the bond and money markets. With this increase becomes more attractive hold dollars because they are remunerated at a higher interest rate than the Euro and the Yen (two currencies with a perception of risk almost identical to the US dollar). But the appreciation of the dollar makes the purchase of commodities (whose price is expressed in US dollars) more expensive for European and Asian buyers. On the other hand, with the appreciation of the dollar (depreciation of the Euro) becomes more competitive European exports, which could mitigate the negative effects mentioned. However, the appreciation of the US dollar increases the debt (expressed in euro) of many emerging countries as well as their inflation (because imported goods are more expensive). Some of these countries (such as South Africa and Brazil are in a phase of economic contraction, which can not be tackled by the respective central banks to the extent that they can not reduce interest rates because of rising inflation. The rise in interest rates and US yields increases the attractiveness of bonds of this country when compared to the stocks of utilities and other more defensive securities with a high dividend yield. The increase in interest rates in the US decreases the present value of profits companies will generate in the future. This current value is calculated by the division of the value of estimated future profits for an interest rate. By increasing the denominator decreases the value of future profits and as such the fundamental value of companies. In this context, the banking sector is an exception. The rise in interest rates increases the differential between interest rates on loans and interest rates on deposits, which has a positive impact on the margin of the banks. This effect does not guarantee a valuation of US bank shares (or European banks present in the US) but may lead to an over-performance compared to other sectors.