In Asian Equity Markets stocks traded sideways on Monday amid some uncertainty over U.S. monetary policy after strong payrolls data, while Chinese stocks rose as the government scaled back COVID restrictions in more cities. China’s blue-chip Shanghai Shenzhen CSI 300 index rose 1.7 percent, while the Shanghai Composite index rose 1.6 percent, with both indexes touching their highest level since mid-September. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index was the best performer in Asia, rising 3.5 percent. Japan’s Nikkei 225 index rose 0.1 percent.

In Currency Markets the dollar slid across the board on Monday after a bruising week, weakening to below 7 yuan as sentiment toward riskier, non-dollar assets improved following signs of China easing some of COVID related restrictions. The dollar index was down 0.18 percent at 104.28, its lowest since June 28. The euro rose 0.38 percent to $1.0578, having gained 1.3 percent last week. Sterling rose to $1.23450, its highest since June 17, and was last trading at $1.2339, up 0.42 percent. The Australian dollar rose 0.75 percent to $0.684, while the kiwi was 0.31 percent higher at $0.643.

In US Equity Markets the S&P 500 closed slightly lower on Friday, although major indexes rallied off their worst levels of the day, as the November payrolls report fueled expectations the Federal Reserve would maintain its path of interest rate hikes to combat inflation. The Dow rose 0.1 percent, to 34,429.88, the S&P 500 lost 0.12 percent, to 4,071.7 and the Nasdaq Composite fell 0.18 percent, to 11,461.50. Ford Motor Co declined 1.56 percent on lower vehicle sales in November, while DoorDash Inc 3.38 percent shed after RBC downgraded the food delivery firm’s stock.

In Commodities Markets oil futures fell 1.5 percent in choppy trading on Friday ahead of a meeting of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies (OPEC+) on Sunday and an EU ban on Russian crude on Monday. Brent crude futures settled down 1.5 percent, at $85.57 per barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures fell 1.5 percent, to $79.98 per barrel. Spot gold fell 0.4 percnet to $1,794.96 per ounce. Spot silver rose 1.5 percent to $23.11 per ounce, having hit its highest since May 5. Platinum fell 2.6 percent to $1,014.25 and palladium was down 2.1 percent to $1,901.25.

In European Equity Markets stocks fell back on Friday after two days of strong gains that helped the STOXX 600 index notch up its seventh straight week of rises amid signs of China re-opening its economy and easing worries about interest-rate hikes. The pan-European index closed 0.2 percent lower after rallying 1.5 percent in the last two sessions. Credit Suisse jumped 9.3 percent after 12 straight days of losses that sent the stock to a record low. The Swiss lender is looking to speed up cost cutting as the revenue outlook worsens.

In Bond Markets treasury yields were little changed on Friday after a strong unemployment report for November showed a resilient labor market with rising wages, a potential thorn for the Federal Reserve as it moves to slow its hiking of interest rates to tame high inflation. The two-year Treasury yield rose 3.2 basis points at 4.286 percent, while the yield on 10-year yield down 1 basis points to 3.517 percent. The yield on the 30-year Treasury bond was down 5.8 basis points to 3.575 percent. The breakeven rate on five-year U.S. Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities (TIPS) was last at 2.555 percent.