In Asian Equity Markets stocks were choppy on Monday as a slew of Chinese economic data confirmed the deadening effect of coronavirus restrictions on consumer spending, prompting Beijing to again ease monetary policy. China’s central bank also surprised by cutting some key lending rates by a sizable 10 basis points. The easing seemed to help China blue chips, which edged up 0.9 percent in the wake of the data. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan eased 0.3 percent, while Japan’s Nikkei bounced 0.8 percent after losing 1.2 percent last week.

In Currency Markets the dollar was down on Monday morning in Asia, with the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) springing a surprise benchmark cut. Investors are also looking ahead to the U.S. Federal Reserve’s January policy decision and the timetable for interest rate hikes. The U.S. Dollar Index inched down 0.01 percent to 95.153. Against the Japanese yen, the dollar was up 0.20 percent to 114.43. The Sterling inched up 0.04 percent to 1.3678. The Aussie dollar inched up 0.07 percent to $0.7211 and the kiwi inched up 0.08 percent to $0.6803.

In US Equity Markets the Dow closed lower on Friday with a big drag from financial stocks as investors were disappointed by fourth quarter results from big U.S. banks, which cast a shadow over the earnings season kick-off. The Dow fell 0.56 percent, to 35,911.81, the S&P 500 gained 0.08 percent, to 4,662.85 and the Nasdaq Composite added 0.59 percent, to 14,893.75. Citigroup Inc shares fell after it reported a 26 percent decrease in fourth-quarter profit, while asset manager BlackRock Inc fell 2.2 percent after missing quarterly revenue expectations.

In Commodities Markets oil rose on Friday, boosted by supply constraints and worries of a Russian attack on neighbouring Ukraine, pushing prices toward their fourth weekly gain despite sources saying China is set to release crude reserves around the Lunar New Year. Brent crude futures settled 1.9 percent, higher at a 2-1/2-month high of $86.06 a barrel. U.S. WTI crude gained 2.1 percent, to $83.82 per barrel. Spot gold was down 0.3 percent at $1,816.22 per ounce. Spot silver fell 0.9 percent to $22.86 an ounce. Platinum was down 0.2 percent to $967.32, while palladium fell 0.3 percent to $1,882.12.

In European Equity Markets stocks fell on Friday after hawkish remarks from central bank officials fanned worries over the impact of tighter policy, while’s France’s EDF slumped as the government intervened to curb electricity prices. The pan-European STOXX 600 shed 1.0 percent, while also marking its worst week since late November. Power group EDF fell 14.6 percent and was the worst performer on the STOXX 600 after France ordered the state-controlled firm to sell more of its cheap nuclear power to smaller competitors to limit electricity price rises in the country.

In Bond Markets U.S. Treasury yields were higher on Friday in choppy trade as a batch of soft economic data on consumer and manufacturing activity was seen as not enough to derail the Federal Reserve’s path of tightening policy. The yield on 10-year Treasury notes was up 6.4 basis points at 1.773 percent. After rising about 25 basis points last week, the 10-year yield is just barely higher for the week. The yield on the 30-year Treasury bond was up 6.1 basis points at 2.115 percent. The two-year U.S. Treasury yield was up 6.8 basis points at 0.967 percent.