In Asian Equity Markets indices edged up in Tuesday morning trade. The Nikkei 225 rose 0.68% by the lunch break, with shares of index heavyweight Fanuc jumping 3.35%.  Over in mainland China, the Shanghai composite added 0.63% in morning trade, while the Shenzhen component rose 0.89%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index traded 0.5% up in the morning. Chinese tech giant Tencent’s shares rose 1.02%, with the company announcing Monday that it would cooperate with Qualcomm on gaming devices and 5G.

In Currency Markets the yen held near a three-week low on Tuesday as pared expectations for aggressive Federal Reserve cuts supported the dollar and ahead of a Bank of Japan meeting, which is seen as a key test for policymakers amid a global monetary easing cycle. The pound hit a new 28-month low early in Asia trade as investors grew increasingly nervous about the prospects of a no-deal Brexit under new British Prime Minister Boris Johnson. Sterling briefly fell to $1.2209, the lowest since March 2017.

In Commodities Markets oil prices extended overnight gains on Tuesday amid widespread expectations the U.S. Federal Reserve will cut interest rates for the first time in more than a decade this week. Brent crude rose 30 cents, or 0.5%, to $64.01 a barrel, after gaining 0.4% the previous session. U.S. crude was up 34 cents or 0.6%, at $57.21 a barrel, having risen 1.2% on Monday. Supply risks are still a concern as tensions remained high around the Strait of Hormuz, through which about a fifth of the world’s oil passes.

In US Equity Markets stocks backed away from record highs on Monday as investors looked forward to an interest rate cut from the U.S. Federal Reserve and for signs of progress from Shanghai, where U.S.-China trade negotiations are underway. The S&P 500 lost 0.19%, to 3,020.01 and the Nasdaq Composite fell 0.57%, to 8,283.00. Starbucks Corp fell below Friday’s record high, dropping 1.3% after J.P.Morgan downgraded the coffee chain’s stock to “neutral,” saying its valuation has become “beyond stretched.”

In Bond Markets U.S. Treasury yields fell broadly on Monday, in line with government bond markets around the world amid global economic uncertainty, as investors await a widely-expected interest rate cut by the Federal Reserve this week. The Fed begins its two-day monetary policy meeting on Tuesday, with a 25-basis-point rate cut fully priced in. U.S. benchmark 10-year note yields fell to 2.05%, from 2.08% late on Friday. Since the beginning of the year, 10-year yields have fallen 63 basis points, on track for its steepest decline in five years.