In Asian Equity Markets stocks fell on Monday amid worsening protests in China against the Government’s strict zero-COVID policy, while Indian stocks traded near record highs as markets positioned for smaller interest rate hikes in the country. Chinese stocks fell sharply, with the blue-chip Shanghai Shenzhen CSI 300 index down 1.7 percent, while the Shanghai Composite index lost 1.2 percent. Hong Kong stocks were the worst performers in Asia with the Hang Seng logging a 2.1 percent decline. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 index fell 0.4 percent, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 index fell 0.5 percent.

In Currency Markets the dollar climbed on Monday as protests in China against the government’s anti-COVID policies made investors turn away from riskier assets, and consigned the Chinese yuan to a more than two-week low against the safe-haven greenback. The offshore yuan fell to an over two-week low in Asian trading, and was last roughly 0.4 percent lower at 7.2242 per dollar. The Australian dollar slid more than 1 percent to $0.6681. The kiwi fell 0.72 percent to $0.6202. The euro fell 0.5 percent to $1.0350, while sterling was down 0.26 percent at $1.2057.

In US Equity Markets the Nasdaq closed lower on Friday with pressure from Apple Inc in a subdued holiday-shortened trading session for Wall Street, as investors watched Black Friday sales and COVID-19 cases in China. The Dow rose 0.45 percent, to 34,347.03; the S&P 500 lost 0.03 percent, at 4,026.12; and the Nasdaq Composite fell 0.52 percent, to 11,226.36. Activision Blizzard Inc plunged 4.07 percent on a media report that the U.S. Federal Trade Commission was likely to file an antitrust lawsuit to block Microsoft Corp’s $69 billion takeover bid for the video game publisher.

In Commodities Markets oil prices fell 2 percent on Friday in thin market liquidity, closing a week marked by worries about Chinese demand and haggling over a Western price cap on Russian oil. Brent crude futures settled down 2 percent, to trade at $83.63 a barrel, having retraced some earlier gains. U.S. WTI crude futures were down 2.1 percent, at $76.28 a barrel. Spot gold was little changed at $1,754.94 per ounce. Silver was little changed at $21.52 and platinum inched 0.7 percent lower to $980.71, both due for weekly rises. Palladium fell 1.4 percent to $1,854.47, heading lower for the week.

In European Equity Markets the STOXX 600 index closed flat on Friday, for its sixth straight weekly gain, as hopes of slowing interest rate hikes offset a real estate sector sell-off and retailers were hurt by fears of a bumpy holiday shopping season. Data on Friday showed the German economy grew slightly more in the third quarter than preliminary figures had suggested, bolstered by consumer spending. Among individual stocks, Credit Suisse slid 6.6 percent to a record low in the wake of capital raise plans and a weak earnings report released this week.

In Bond Markets U.S. Treasury prices rose marginally on Friday amid low liquidity after falling early in the day in reaction to a sell-off in German bonds. U.S. Treasury yields climbed in early trade on Friday but ended up lower, with benchmark 10-year yields down by about two basis points to 3.683 percent, the lowest since early October, and two-year note yields down by nearly three bps to 4.454 percent. German bonds sold off on Friday, with German 10-year bond yields, seen as a benchmark for the EU currency bloc, rising about 12 basis points.