In European Equity Markets stocks closed higher Monday, amid a slew of corporate news about potential mergers and acquisitions. The pan-European Stoxx 600 closed up 0.3 percent, with most sectors and major bourses in positive territory. Europe’s utility stocks led the gains Monday, up 1.4 percent. Italgas, Pennon Group and Iberdrola were among the top sectoral performers, all trading around 3 percent higher. Meanwhile, the region’s banking index was also trading higher following a week of political turmoil in Italy and Spain. The Financial Times reported French bank Societe Generale and Italian rival Unicredit were exploring the possibility of a merger.

In Currency Markets the US dollar fell to a two-week low on Monday, as the easing of political tensions in Italy lifted the euro and as global trade concerns resurfaced after China warned the United States against tariffs or other protectionist measures.  The Australian dollar jumped to its highest since April on an improvement in broader risk sentiment and domestic data showing strong company profits and a rise in retail sales. The Aussie rose to US$0.7651, on track for its biggest one day-rise since August. The euro was last up 0.5 percent at $1.1720, after rising as high as $1.1737, its highest since May 24, pulling further away from 2018 lows of $1.151 last week.

In Commodities Markets oil prices slipped on Monday as U.S. production hit a record high and OPEC members considered boosting supply. Benchmark Brent crude oil lost $1.26 a barrel, or 1.6 percent, reaching a low of $75.53 before recovering to $76.29, down 50 cents. U.S. light crude was unchanged at 65.81 a barrel. The U.S. contract lost about 3 percent last week after a decline of nearly 5 percent the previous week. U.S. drillers added two oil rigs in the week to June 1, bringing the total to 861, the most since March 2015, energy services company Baker Hughes said on Friday. That was the eighth time drillers have added rigs in the past nine weeks.

In US Equity Markets stocks rose on Monday led by gains in technology shares and Friday’s robust jobs data, which gave investors heightened confidence that the U.S. economy remained strong. Apple rose 1 percent, providing the biggest boost to the Nasdaq and S&P 500. Microsoft rose 0.3 percent after saying it would buy privately held coding website GitHub Inc for $7.5 billion to expand its position among software developers. The S&P technology index was 0.4 percent higher and tech-laden Nasdaq opened highest since March 13, when it hit a record. The S&P 500 was up 0.40 percent, at 2,745.48 and the Nasdaq Composite was up 0.21 percent, at 7,570.35.

In Bond Markets a rally in southern European bond markets gathered pace on Monday as investors took comfort from the creation of a government in Rome that ended months of political turmoil and a relatively smooth handover of power in Spain. The gap between 10-year Italian and German government bond yields narrowed to 211 basis points. That is its tightest in a week, just before it blew out to more than 300 bps on fears about the possibility of a new election becoming a de facto referendum on Italy’s euro membership. Italy’s 2-year bond yield was down 27 basis points to 0.76 percent, having briefly jumped last week to 5-year highs around 2.7 percent. Italian 10-year bond yields were down 21 bps at 2.53 percent.