In Asian Equity Markets indices traded mixed on Monday morning. Mainland Chinese stocks rose in early trade, with the Shanghai composite up 0.11%, while the Shenzhen component and Shenzhen composite were both fractionally higher. Over in Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index was largely flat. Japan’s Nikkei 225 pared some of its earlier losses but still declined fractionally in morning trade, while the Topix index slipped slightly. Over in South Korea, the Kospi recovered to trade 0.16% higher. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.32% as most of the sectors traded lower.

In Currency Markets the euro rose to a three-month high against the dollar on Monday, as bearish bets on the U.S. currency remained solid on prospects of a near-term interest rate cut by the Federal Reserve. The euro stretched its rally last week, up 1.4%, and advanced about 0.15% to $1.1386 in early Asian trade, its highest since March 22. The Australian dollar was up 0.4% at $0.6952 after Reserve Bank of Australia Governor Philip Lowe said it would be legitimate to question the effectiveness of global monetary policy easing to boost economic growth.

In Commodities Markets oil prices climbed on Monday as tensions remain high between Iran and the United States, with U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo saying “significant” sanctions on Tehran would be announced. Brent futures were up 25 cents, or 0.4%, at $65.45 a barrel. West Texas Intermediate crude was up 37 cents, or 0.6%, at $57.80 a barrel. U.S. President Donald Trump said last week that he called off a military strike to retaliate for Iran’s downing of an unmanned U.S. drone, and he said on Sunday that he was not seeking war with Iran.

In US Equity Markets indices edged lower on Friday, as U.S. Vice President Mike Pence’s decision to defer a speech on China policy increased optimism on upcoming trade talks between Washington and Beijing, while tensions between the United States and Iran undercut sentiment.  The S&P 500 fell 0.13% to 2,950.46. The Nasdaq Composite declined 0.24% to 8,031.71. During Friday’s session, CarMax Inc rose as much as 3.2% to a record high after the used-vehicles retailer posted quarterly results above analysts’ expectations.

In Bond Markets U.S. Treasury prices fell on Friday, as investors cashed in on steep gains the last two days that saw yields drop to multi-year lows in the wake of a Federal Reserve statement that flagged interest rate cuts this year. The price rally on Thursday pushed U.S. benchmark 10-year Treasury yields below 2% for the first time in more than 2-1/2 years. U.S. 10-year note yields rose to 2.064% from 2.0% late on Thursday. Yields on U.S. 30-year bonds advanced to 2.591%, from 2.527% on Thursday.