In European Equity Markets stocks closed lower Monday, after the U.S. and several European Union nations expelled Russian diplomats in a show of solidarity with the U.K. The pan-European Stoxx 600 closed 0.77 percent lower, with most sectors and major bourses finishing in negative territory. Italian stocks were the standout fallers. Looking at individual stocks, Fresnillo jumped to the top of the European benchmarks after a ratings upgrade from Goldman Sachs. The U.S. investment bank raised its stock recommendation to “buy” and added the stock to its conviction list. Shares of Fresnillo closed 4.5 percent higher.

In Currency Markets the U.S. dollar slipped to a five-week low against a basket of major currencies on Monday, as optimism that the United States and China are set to begin negotiations on trade helped ease fears of a trade war and investors’ appetite for risk improved. The dollar index .DXY, which measures the greenback against a basket of six other major currencies, was down 0.42 percent at 89.064, after slipping to a five-week low of 89.056. The euro rose 0.77 percent against the greenback, with the latest comments from Jens Weidmann, Germany’s likely candidate to become the European Central Bank’s next president, also offering some support.

In Commodities Markets crude oil futures slipped on Monday as investors cashed in some profits from last week’s strong rise, but concerns about Saudi-Iran tensions kept losses in check. Brent crude futures were down 58 cents at $69.89 a barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures lost 57 cents to $65.31. Last week, Brent gained 6.4 percent and WTI rose 5.7 percent, the strongest weekly gains since July. Crude was also pressured by a rise in the number of active U.S. oil rigs to a three-year high of 804 on Friday, implying further rises in production. U.S. oil output has already jumped by a quarter since mid-2016 to 10.4 million barrels per day (bpd).

In US Equity Markets stocks were higher on Monday as fears about a trade war between the United States and China eased following reports that the two countries were willing to negotiate tariffs and trade imbalances. However, a 3 percent fall in Facebook’s shares weighed on tech stocks after U.S. Federal Trade Commission made public its investigation into the social network, which has come under fire for data privacy issues. The S&P 500 gained 1.14 percent to 2,617.85 and the Nasdaq Composite was up 1.18 percent at 7,074.96. Microsoft (MSFT.O) jumped 5.4 percent and was the biggest driver of the three main indexes.

In Bond Markets U.S. Treasury yields rose on Monday as the government planned to sell a record high $294 billion of debt this week, in a test of investor appetite following last week’s strong run spurred by nervousness about a global trade war.  The U.S. Treasury Department will sell $51 billion of three-month bills and $45 billion of six-month bills at 11:30 a.m. (1530 GMT), followed by $30 billion of two-year notes at 1 p.m. (1700 GMT) on Monday. The yield on benchmark 10-year Treasury notes was last trading at 2.841 percent, up over 1 basis point from late Friday.