In Asian Equity Markets caution gripped share markets on Monday as investors braced for a U.S. inflation report that could force another super-sized hike in interest rates and the start of an earnings season in which profits will be under pressure. Chinese blue chips lost 1.9 percent after Shanghai discovered a COVID-19 case involving a new subvariant, Omicron BA.5.2.1. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan fell 0.7 percent and South Korea 0.1 percent. Going the other way, Japan’s Nikkei added 1.2 percent.

In Currency Markets the U.S. dollar rose to a new 20-year high in early European trade Monday, gaining strongly against the Japanese yen in particular, on fears about the global growth outlook ahead of the release later in the week of key U.S. inflation data. The Dollar Index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of six other currencies, traded 0.5 percent higher to 107.325, climbing to levels not seen since the start of 2002. The euro fell 0.5 percent to $1.0129, while sterling fell 0.4 percent to $1.1975. Against the Japanese yen, the dollar rose 0.7 percent to 137.03.

In US Equity Markets stocks ended little changed on Friday after a volatile session in which investors tried to comprehend how a robust jobs report would influence the U.S. Federal Reserve and its plans to aggressively hike interest rates. The Dow fell 0.15 percent, to 31,338.15, the S&P 500 lost 0.08 percent, to 3,899.38 and the Nasdaq Composite added 0.12 percent, to 11,635.31. The Labor Department’s closely awaited data showed nonfarm payrolls rose by 372,000 jobs in June, higher than the estimated rise of 268,000 jobs.

In Commodities Markets oil prices rose about 2 percent in volatile trade on Friday but were still heading for a weekly decline as investors worried about a potential recession-driven demand downturn even as global fuel supplies remained tight. Brent crude futures rose 2.3 percent, to settle at $107.02 a barrel. U.S. WTI crude rose 2 percent, to settle at $104.79 a barrel. Spot gold was up 0.1 percent at $1,741.94 per ounce. Spot silver rose 0.4 percent to $19.27 per ounce, while platinum rose 2 percent to $890.56. Palladium rose 9.2 percent to $2,174.18, and was set for its third straight week of gains.

In European Equity Markets stocks rose on Friday, recovering after hitting session lows following bumper U.S. jobs data that strengthened the case for another big interest rate hike by the Fed. The continent-wide STOXX 600 index closed up 0.5 percent, ending the week up 2.5 percent. Automakers were the biggest sectoral gainers, and provided the biggest boost to Germany’s DAX which closed up 1.3 percent to lead gains among regional peers. TAG Immobilien lost 6.1 percent after the German real estate group said it was raising 200 million euros to refinance its latest acquisition in Poland.

In Bond Markets U.S. Treasury yields jumped and a key part of the yield curve inverted further after data on Friday showed that employers added more jobs than expected to their payrolls in June. Benchmark 10-year yields were last at 3.747 percent, up from around 2.989 percent before the data. Two-year yields jumped to 3.117 percent, from around 3.001 percent. Fed funds futures traders are now pricing for the Fed’s benchmark rate to peak at 3.58 percent in March, compared with pricing Thursday afternoon for a top of around 3.48 percent.