EQUITIES
Asian markets were mixed in Monday trade, with the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong tumbling more than 2% following its return from a Friday holiday. In Japan, the Nikkei 225 shed 1.12%, while the Australian stocks jumped, with the S&P/ASX 200 up 1.29%.
Chinese mainland markets will be closed until Thursday for the National Day holiday while South Korean markets were also shut on Monday.
European stocks are expected to open broadly in positive territory on Monday as markets head into the first full trading week of October.
OIL
Oil fell on Monday ahead of an OPEC+ supply policy meeting that may decide whether a recent rally in prices can be sustained as the world fitfully recovers from the COVID-19 pandemic.
OPEC+ is scheduled to meet later in the day. The group is facing pressure from some countries to produce more to help lower prices as demand has recovered faster than expected in certain parts of the world.
OPEC+ agreed in July to boost output by 400,000 barrels per day every month until at least April 2022 to phase out 5.8 million bpd of existing cuts. The earliest any increase would take place would be November since OPEC+'s last meeting has decided October volumes.
The Brent now traded at $79.05 per barrel, while U.S. crude futures traded at $75.61 per barrel. On Friday last week, the Brent ends at $79.28 a barrel, and the WTI at $75.88 per barrel.
CURRENCIES
The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of its peers, was at 94.033 after a recent decline from above 94.4.
The 10-year US Treasury yield stood at 1.474%, off last Tuesday's three-month high of 1.567%.
GOLD
Gold prices hit a near two-week peak on Monday, as investors eye a key U.S. jobs report later this week that could influence the Federal Reserve’s timeline for tapering its asset purchases.
Spot gold fell marginally to $1,760.80 per ounce, after hitting $1,765.54 earlier today, its highest since Sept. 23. The U.S. gold futures rose 0.16% to $1,761.30.
Silver was up 0.55% at $22.66 per ounce. Platinum slipped 0.23% to $971.40 and palladium edged 0.33% lower to $1,897.50.
ECONOMIC OUTLOOK
Global equities traded cautiously on Monday, as concerns about China's property sector and inflation worries, U.S. Federal Reserve tapering and rising interest rates dominating sentiment.
Investors continued to monitor the situation surrounding the debt worries of Evergrande, which has missed two bond interest payments in the past weeks. The debt-laden China Evergrande trading was suspended after it missed a key interest payment on its offshore debt obligation for the second time last week. Shares of its unit Evergrande Property Services Group were also suspended, according to the Hong Kong stock exchange. Another Chinese property developer Hopson were also suspended.
Investors eyed a key U.S. jobs report later this week that could influence the Federal Reserve’s timeline for tapering its asset purchases, as well as PMI index for several major nations.
