In Asian Equity Markets indices mostly declined on Tuesday amid dampened expectations on the Fed cutting rates this month. Mainland China shares continued to fall after losses on Monday. The Shanghai composite edged down 0.16%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index pared some losses to edge down 0.17%. In Japan, the Nikkei 225 added 0.28%, while the Kospi in South Korea was near flat. Australia’s ASX 200 fell 0.33%. Overall, MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan edged down 0.31%.

In Currency Markets the U.S. dollar edged up on Monday, hovering at a three-week high, as it held on to gains after news of a stronger-than-expected increase in U.S. jobs in June scaled back traders’ expectations of a sharp Federal Reserve rate cut at the end of July. Traders await Fed Chairman Jerome Powell’s two-day testimony before Congress, which starts on Wednesday for clues about a rate decrease. The dollar index was up 0.08% at 97.359, which was close to a 3-week high of 97.443 hit on Friday.

In Commodities Markets oil fell on Tuesday amid worries over the outlook for demand after the latest signs that international trade disputes have been dragging on the global economy, although tensions in the Middle East offered some support to prices. Brent crude futures were down 21 cents, or 0.3%, at $63.90 a barrel. They fell 12 cents on Monday. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures were down 20 cents, or 0.4%, at $57.46 a barrel. They rose 15 cents in the previous session.

In US Equity Markets stocks fell on Monday as Apple shares fell following a broker downgrade and investors continued to weigh chances of an aggressive interest rate cut by the Federal Reserve later this month. Apple Inc  fell 2.2% and was the biggest drag on the S&P 500 and Nasdaq. Rosenblatt Securities downgraded the iPhone maker’s shares to “sell” from “neutral,” and said it expected the company to face “fundamental deterioration” in the next six to 12 months. The S&P 500  fell 0.48%, to 2,975.95 and the Nasdaq Composite declined 0.78%, to 8,098.38.

In Bond Markets the U.S. Treasury yield curve hit its flattest level in more than a month on Monday as investors tempered Friday’s reaction to the strong June employment data, with yields on long-duration bonds falling even as traders significantly reduced bets for an aggressive rate cut by the Federal Reserve later this month. The yield on the benchmark 10-year note was last down half a basis point at 2.039%, with the 30-year yield 2.4 basis points lower at 2.524%.