In European Equity Markets shares hit their highest level in almost two weeks on Monday, boosted by gains among German utilities after the sector’s leading players announced a major overhaul of the industry. Shares in utilities in other countries rose on optimism for further M&A in the sector. The STOXX utility index rose 1.1 percent to lead sector gainers in Europe, helping the pan-European STOXX 600 index to close up 0.2 percent at its highest since Feb. 28. Innogy was the best performing stock, jumping 12 percent after parent RWE and rival E.ON said they would break up Germany’s largest energy company by market value and divide up its assets.

In Currency Markets the US dollar fell against a basket of major currencies Monday amid fears over the prospect of trade war after President Donald Trump implemented tariffs on steel and aluminium imports. The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, fell 0.12% to 90.00. In what was quiet day on the economic calendar for top-tier data release, investor focus shifted from the bullish jobs data reported Friday to the potential impact on the U.S. economy of a trade war amid fears that the European Union and Japan could retaliate after expressing reservations about the tariffs.

In Commodities Markets oil prices fell on Monday as investors grappled with ongoing concerns over rising U.S. output and tight OPEC supply, while last week’s data showing speculators cut bets on oil suggested more selling could be seen. Brent crude futures were down $1.16, or 1.8 percent, to trade at $64.33 per barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures fell $1.21, or 2 percent, to $60.83 per barrel. Hedge funds and money managers have pared their bullish wagers on U.S. crude oil, with long positions falling last week for the first time in three weeks. Gross short positions on the New York Mercantile Exchange climbed to their highest level in nearly a month.

In US Equity Markets indices struggled to hold on to early gains on Monday as losses in industrial stocks including Boeing and Caterpillar more than offset gains in chip-makers and technology companies. Shares of Micron Technology jumped nearly 10 percent after analysts at Nomura raised their target for the stock to $100 – $41 above current rates. The S&P 500 was down just 0.1 percent at 2,783.96. Ocular jumped 27 percent after laser and optical fiber specialist Lumen Holdings said it would buy the optical components producer for $1.7 billion. Lumentum’s shares rose 7.6 percent. Broadcom gained 3.4 percent while shares in Qualcomm were flat.

In Bond Markets German bond yields dipped to a one-week low on Monday after ECB executive board member Benoit Coeure said short-term interest rates would stay at “very low levels”, supporting a view that any exit from hefty stimulus will be slow. The U.S./German 2-year yield spread was at 284 basis points, its widest in over 20 years. The Italian/German 10-year yield gap was at 138 bps versus 135 bps on Friday. Coeure’s comments underpinned sentiment just days after the European Central Bank gave up a pledge to increase bond purchases if needed and signalled a slow route out of its stimulus. Coeure added that inflation was not quite where the ECB “would like it to be”.