In European Equity Markets stocks fell on Monday as concerns over China weighed on mining stocks and OPEC anticipation dented the oil sector, while financials were led lower by Julius Baer, which fell after its chief executive unexpectedly quit to join a rival company. The pan-European STOXX 600 index fell back 0.5 percent, surrendering after signs of a reversal earlier, as weakness across cyclical sectors left defensive real estate and utilities stocks the only gainers.Insurance stocks gave back earlier gains after Allianz struck a deal to buy out France’s Euler Hermes. Tech stocks, the best-performing this year, lost 0.7 percent after a downbeat note from Morgan Stanley on the sector.

In Currency Markets the dollar fell against a basket of other major currencies on Monday as traders braced for the resumption of deliberations on the U.S. tax plan and the confirmation hearing for Federal Reserve Governor Jerome Powell as the central bank’s next chair. The dollar was 0.35 percent lower against the yen.  The U.S. dollar gained 0.06 percent against its Canadian counterpart as oil prices pulled back from a two-year high. Sterling was up 0.11 percent at $1.335 after hitting an eight-week high of $1.3382 as some investors covered their short positions against the British currency. South Africa’s rand bounced against the dollar after the country avoided a double downgrade of its local-currency debt.

In Commodities Markets  oil prices fell more than a dollar on Monday, with U.S. crude easing from two-year highs on prospects of higher supply, and uncertainty about Russia’s resolve to join in extending output cuts ahead of this week’s OPEC meeting. U.S. light crude was down 2 percent to $57.74 a barrel. Brent crude oil was down 0.8 percent to $63.35 a barrel. U.S. crude oil production has risen by 15 percent since mid-2016 to 9.66 million barrels per day, not far from top producers Russia and Saudi Arabia. Spot gold was up 0.5 percent at $1,293.68 an ounce. Among other precious metal prices, silver was up 0.4 percent at $17.04 an ounce, platinum advanced 0.4 percent to $944.20 and palladium was flat at $997.47.

In US Equity Markets the main indexes hit new intra-day highs on Cyber Monday as an expected rise in online sales boosted Amazon and home improvement retailers climbed after strong home sales data. The Dow rose 0.14 percent, at 23,591.89, the S&P 500 was down 0.06 percent, at 2,600.98. The Nasdaq Composite fell 0.22 percent, at 6,873.68. Home Depot and Lowe’s gained about 1.5 percent after data showed a surprise rise in sales of new U.S. single-family homes in October. Sales rose to their highest level in 10 years, according to the report. Western Digital fell nearly 7 percent after Morgan Stanley downgraded the stock to “equal-weight”, citing deteriorating prices for some products and uncertainty over a joint venture with Toshiba Memory.

In Bond Markets treasury yields rose on Monday after data showed U.S. new home sales rose to their highest in 10 years, reinforcing expectations the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates next month and a few more times in 2018. In mid-morning trading, the 10-year Treasury yield was up slightly at 2.345 percent, from 2.34 percent late on Friday. U.S. two-year yields, which climbed to a nine-year peak last week, rose to 1.761 percent, from 1.748 percent on Friday. U.S. 30-year bond yields rose to 2.772 percent, from Friday’s 2.761 percent.