EQUITIES
Shares in Asia-Pacific were mostly higher in Monday trade as stocks in Hong Kong led gains regionally. The Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index rose 2.23%, and the mainland Chinese stocks, the Shanghai composite was up 0.38%.
The Nikkei 225 in Japan surged 1.61%, the Straits Times index in Singapore rose 0.11%, and the S&P BSE Sensex in India added 0.30%.
Elsewhere, shares in Australia lagged, with the S&P/ASX 200 down 0.37%. Markets in South Korea are closed for a holiday.
OIL
Oil prices rose on Monday, extending multiweek gains, amid supply restraint from the OPEC+ and growing demand for fuels as economies try to recover from the coronavirus pandemic.
The Brent now traded at $83.59 per barrel, while U.S. crude futures traded at $80.84 per barrel.
Overnight, the Brent ends at $82.39 a barrel, and the WTI at $79.35 per barrel.
CURRENCIES
The yields on 10-year notes were trading up at 1.612%, little changed from Friday as it hit a four-month high, amid bets the Federal Reserve will still proceed with a tapering of bond purchases in coming weeks. While the headline U.S. payrolls number on Friday disappointed, it was a partly due to reopening problems in state and local education while private sector employment was firmer.
The dollar also underpinned as U.S. yields outpaced those in Germany and Japan, held at 94.142, not far from its one-year high of 94.504 touched earlier this month.
In cryptocurrencies, Bitcoin was firm at $56,607 having hit a five-month high of $56,708 on Sunday while ether is softer at $3,521.
GOLD
Gold prices were flat on Monday, was caught between a dip in the dollar and fears that the U.S. Federal Reserve would start paring stimulus this year despite weak jobs data.
Spot gold was unchanged at $1,755.60 per ounce. The U.S. gold futures also were flat at $1,755.50.
Spot silver rose 0.1% to $22.73 per ounce, while platinum eased slightly to $1,027.80. Palladium rose 2.8% to $2,132.50, having earlier hit a high since Sept. 13.
ECONOMIC OUTLOOK
Asian shares rallied on Monday courtesy of gains in China which also helped U.S. stock futures pare early losses. Traders braced for the upcoming earnings season, while also weigh the risks to the pandemic recovery from inflation pressures and an energy crunch. The debt woes and slowdown in China’s property sector keep being monitored.
Shares of Meituan in Hong Kong surged 7.97%. China’s market regulator on Friday said it had fined the company about 3.4 billion Chinese yuan ($527.71 million) after finding it guilty of monopolistic practices. Still, that was far smaller than the 18.23 billion yuan ($2.8 billion) fine that Alibaba had been slapped with back in April. Other Chinese tech stocks in Hong Kong also saw sizable gains, with Tencent rising 2.49% while Alibaba surged 7.85%.
The earnings season kicks off this week and is likely to bring tales of supply disruptions and rising costs. JPMorgan reports on Wednesday, followed by BofA, Morgan Stanley and Citigroup on Thursday, and Goldman on Friday. The focus will also be on U.S. inflation and retail sales data, and minutes of the Federal Reserve's last meeting which should confirm that a November tapering was discussed.
