In Asian Equity Markets stocks traded mostly lower on Monday, following a global sell-off late last week amid fears that rising tensions between the United States and China could lead to a full-blown trade war. In Australia, the benchmark ASX 200 was down 0.57 percent at 5,787.30 in afternoon trade. The heavily weighted financial sector was down 0.93 percent. In Japan, the Nikkei 225 retraced some of its early losses to trade down 0.4 percent. The Topix index was down 0.67 percent. Across the Korean Strait, the Kospi reversed early losses to climb 0.2 percent, bucking the general downward trend across the region.

In Currency Markets the US dollar slipped to a 16-month low against the yen on Monday, pressured by lingering fears of a global trade war and a political crisis that has engulfed Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. The U.S. currency traded at 104.955 yen after falling to 104.560, its weakest since November 2016. The euro gained 0.2 percent to $1.2372 after rising 0.5 percent last week. The Swiss franc was little changed at 0.9468 franc per dollar after gaining 0.55 percent against the greenback last week. The dollar had already fell 1.2 percent versus its Japanese peer last week as escalating trade tensions between the United States and China stoked concerns about global growth.

In Commodities Markets oil prices reversed earlier gains on Monday as concerns of a looming trade dispute between the United States and China weighed on global markets. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were at $65.51 a barrel, down 37 cents, or 0.6 percent, from their previous close. Brent crude futures were at $70.24 per barrel, down 21 cents, or 0.3 percent. Crude was also squeezed by a rise in the number of U.S. rigs drilling for oil to a three-year high of 804, implying further rises in production, which has already jumped by a quarter since mid-2016 to 10.4 million barrels per day (bpd).

In US Equity Markets stocks fell on Friday with more than 1,000 points knocked off the Dow in two days as investors, increasingly nervous about a potential U.S. trade war with China, shied away from risk ahead of the weekend and sought shelter from further losses. The S&P 500 lost 2.10 percent, to 2,588.26. The Nasdaq Composite fell 2.43 percent, to 6,992.67. The S&P’s financial sector was the S&P’s biggest percentage loser, down 3 percent. The semiconductor sector took a fall after Micron Technology’s quarterly report stoked fears about falling NAND prices. The Philadelphia Semiconductor index fell 3.3 percent.

In Bond Markets U.S. Treasury yields rose from six-week lows on Friday in choppy trading as concerns about a global trade war after President Donald Trump announced tariffs on Chinese goods kept investors on edge. Benchmark 10-year notes fell 3/32 in price to yield 2.843 percent, after falling to a six-week low of 2.792 percent overnight. Trump on Friday signed into law Congress’ massive $1.3 trillion spending bill, which is expected to worsen the deficit and increase the government’s need to issue more debt.