In Asian Equity Markets stocks started off on a weak footing on Tuesday after a largely soft performance on Wall Street and as persistent concerns over the spread of the Delta variant of the coronavirus dented sentiment and triggered falls in metals and oil prices. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan declined 0.4 percent in early trading, with Korea’s KOSPI index down 0.56 percent while China’s blue chip index CSI300 shed 0.33 percent. Japan’s Nikkei was up 0.9 percent while Australia’s benchmark S&P/ASX200 was 0.2 percent higher on the back of strong earnings results.

In Currency Markets the dollar was up on Tuesday morning in Asia, maintaining its resilience over growing expectations that the U.S. Federal Reserve could begin asset tapering sooner than expected. The U.S. Dollar Index that tracks the greenback against a basket of other currencies inched up 0.04 percent to 92.977. The euro fell to $1.1732, its lowest since early April 2020. Against Japanese yen, the dollar inched up 0.06 percent to 110.34, with Japanese markets reopening after a holiday. The Aussie inched down 0.10 percent to $0.7326 and the kiwi pair was down 0.23 percent to $0.6975.

In US Equity Markets the S&P 500 fell on Monday, as fuel demand worries during a resurgent pandemic sent energy stocks lower but rising U.S. Treasury yields lifted financials stocks, keeping Wall Street’s benchmark index near record levels. The Dow fell 0.2 percent, to 35,136.88, the S&P 500 lost 0.05 percent, to 4,434.23 and the Nasdaq Composite added 0.22 percent, to 14,868.07. Sanderson Farms Inc climbed 7.40 percent after it agreed to be bought for $4.53 billion by commodities trader Cargill Inc and investment firm Continental Grain Co at a time when meat prices have been soaring.

In Commodities Markets oil prices fell as much as 4 percent on Monday, extending last week’s steep losses on a rising U.S. dollar and concerns that new coronavirus-related restrictions in Asia, especially China, could slow a global recovery in fuel demand. U.S. crude oil futures settled at $66.48 per barrel, down 2.6 percent. Brent crude ended at $69.04, down 2.4 percent. Spot gold shed 2.1 percent to $1,725.96 per ounce. Silver was caught in gold’s slipstream and hit its lowest in more than eight months, at $22.50 per ounce. It was last down 4 percent to $23.35.

In European Equity Markets stocks were mixed in early trading on Monday, as a fall in commodity prices weighed on UK’s blue-chip index, while other regional indexes stayed near their recent highs with earnings season winding down. The pan-European STOXX 600 index notched its strongest weekly performance since mid-March on Friday, supported a flurry of dealmaking activity and a strong earnings season. UK’s commodity-heavy FTSE 100 slid 0.2 percent, while France’s CAC 40 and Germany’s DAX rose more than 0.1 percent.

In Bond Markets U.S. Treasury yields rose on Monday as record-high job openings on top of stronger-than-expected employment gains in July added to the narrative of an improving labor market. The benchmark 10-year yield, which hit its highest level since July 16 at 1.324 percent, was last up 2.9 basis points at 1.317 percent. The two-year Treasury yield was last up 1.2 basis points at 0.2203 percent. A closely watched part of the yield curve that measures the gap between yields on two- and 10-year Treasury notes was last less than a basis point steeper at 109.50 basis points.