In Asian Equity Markets stocks wavered on Monday, with Japanese companies catching a post-election boost but weak Chinese data weighing on the broader mood ahead of policy meetings in the United States, Britain and Australia that are set to define the rates outlook. Japan’s Nikkei rose 2.3 percent to a one-month high after Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s Liberal Democratic Party won a unexpectedly comfortable victory, raising hopes for stability and stimulus in the term ahead. Trade elsewhere was soft, with MSCI’s index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan dragged 0.4 percent lower.

In Currency Markets the dollar traded near a 2 1/2-week high to major peers on Monday as quickening inflation in the United States boosted the case for earlier Federal Reserve interest rate hikes. The U.S. currency bought 114.175 yen, gaining 0.13 percent from the end of last week. Sterling weakened slightly to $1.36775, and earlier fell to $1.3663 for the first time since mid-October. Meanwhile, the euro was about flat at $1.15575. The Aussie dollar lost 0.14 percent to $0.7509, continuing its retreat from a nearly four-month high $0.75555 reached last week.

In US Equity Markets stocks shook off early declines and the S&P 500 and Nasdaq inched to fresh intraday highs on Friday as gains in Microsoft helped offset declines in Amazon and Apple after disappointing quarterly earnings from the online retailer and iPhone maker. The Dow fell 0.02 percent, to 35,722.7, the S&P 500 lost 0.07 percent, to 4,593.27 and the Nasdaq Composite fell 0.05 percent, to 15,439.88. Starbucks Corp lost 7.4 percent after the coffee chain said it expects fiscal 2022 operating margin to be below its long-term target due to inflation and investments.

In Commodities Markets gold prices fell to their lowest level in more than a week on Friday, weighed down by a stronger dollar after U.S. data showing inflation stayed hot last month put the focus back on the Federal Reserve’s policy meeting next week. Spot gold fell 0.9 percent to $1,782.23 per ounce. Spot silver fell 1 percent to $23.85 per ounce. Platinum steadied at $1,019.49 per ounce. Palladium rose 0.3 percent to $1,994.68 per ounce. Brent crude rose 6 cents to settle at $84.38, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude rose 76 cents, or 0.9 percent, to $83.57.

In European Equity Markets stocks ended flat on Friday as a jump in major financial stocks driven by surging bond yields offset weakness in high dividend-yielding sectors and commodity companies reeling from a slide in oil and metal prices. The pan-European STOXX 600 index closed 0.1 percent higher. Insurance stocks were the best performers for the day, rising 0.8 percent. Reinsurance firm Swiss RE rose 3.4 percent on strong nine-month results. Daimler added 2.3 percent after posting a higher quarterly profit despite a 30 percent decline in Mercedes-Benz sales due to the chip crisis.

In Bond Markets U.S. Treasury yields were mixed on Friday, with some maturities pulling back from highs, as selling eased amid uncertainty surrounding the timing of the Federal Reserve’s first interest rate hike since December 2018 and the number of such increases. In afternoon U.S. trading, the benchmark U.S. 10-year yield was down 1 basis point at 1.5574 percent. U.S. 2-year yields backed off Thursday’s 19-month peaks to trade down less than a basis point at 0.4911 percent. The U.S. 5-year yield, another part of the curve that is sensitive to Fed rate expectations, was flat at 1.1896 percent.