EQUITIES
Shares in Asia-Pacific rose in Monday trade, as Japanese stocks led gains among the region’s major markets, with the Nikkei 225 rising 2.20%.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index advanced 2.03% by afternoon, and over in mainland China, the Shanghai Composite edged about 0.4% higher. The South Korea’s KOSPI climbed 1.15%, while Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 edged 1.15% higher.
European stocks also set to nudge higher on opening later today, tracking global sentiment.
Markets in the U.S. are closed on Monday for Memorial Day holiday.
OIL
Oil prices rose to more than two-month highs on Monday as China's easing lockdowns and the U.S. driving season stoked demand and as Europe debates an embargo on Russian crude. A fall in the U.S. dollar also supported the prices.
Traders waited to see if the European Union would reach an agreement on banning Russian oil ahead of a meeting on a sixth package of sanctions against Moscow for its invasion of Ukraine. The EU is due to meet on Monday and Tuesday to discuss a sixth package of sanctions against Russia.
The EU governments failed on Sunday to agree on an embargo of Russian oil, but diplomats will still try to make progress ahead of a Monday-Tuesday summit on a deal to ban seaborne deliveries of Russian oil while allowing deliveries by pipeline.
Brent crude futures gained 1.15%, to $120.17 a barrel, while U.S. WTI crude futures jumped 0.86%, to $116.03 a barrel, extending solid gains from last week.
CURRENCIES
The dollar was under pressure in Asia on Monday and was headed for its first monthly drop in five months as investors have scaled back bets that rising U.S. rates will spur further gains and as fears of a global recession have receded a little.
The dollar index, which hit a two-decade high of 105.010 earlier in May dipped about 0.2% to 101.400.
Just the chance of a less hawkish Fed also was enough to see Treasuries rebound, with 10-year note yields just above a six-week low at 2.743%. That is down from a peak of 3.203% on May 9.
Cryptocurrencies bitcoin bounced, but still pinned around $30,000.
GOLD
The pullback in the dollar provided support to greenback-priced bullion. Spot gold was up 0.48% at $1,863.00 per ounce, and U.S. gold futures rose 0.47% at $1,866.00.
ECONOMIC OUTLOOK
Asian stocks were higher on Monday while the dollar was pinned near five-week lows as investors wagered on an eventual slowdown in U.S. monetary tightening, albeit after sharp hikes in June and July.
Regional sentiment also been boosted by a relaxation of COVID-19 controls over the weekend in the major Chinese cities of Beijing and Shanghai. Shanghai authorities will cancel many conditions for businesses to resume work from Wednesday, easing a city-wide lockdown that began two months ago.
Investors also look ahead to major economic data releases later in the week, full of data for clues on the outlook for global growth, U.S. interest rates and the dollar. China is set to announce its official manufacturing PMI for May on Tuesday, while U.S. data which includes the ISM survey of manufacturing on Wednesday and the May payrolls report on Friday.
