In Asian Equity Markets stocks grappled with contagion fears on Tuesday, sparked by troubles at China Evergrande as growing risks the property giant could default on its massive debt pile prompted investors to flee riskier assets. The Hang Seng recovered from an early decline to trade near flat as financials and property firms bounced, while Japan’s Nikkei returned from a market holiday with a decline of almost 2 percent. Australia’s stock market stabilised following Monday’s decline in the shares of the country’s big iron ore miners BHP, Rio Tinto and Fortescue Metals as Evergrande’s wobbles sparked demand concerns.

In Currency Markets the offshore yuan wallowed near an almost one-month low on Tuesday while the safe-haven dollar and yen stood tall as investors sought shelter from a potential China Evergrande default. The yuan stood at 6.4805 per dollar after weakening as far as 6.4879 on Monday. The greenback was mostly flat at $1.17245 per euro after gaining to $1.1700 overnight. The dollar rose 0.18 percent to 109.58 yen. The dollar index was little changed at 93.2241 after rising overnight to 93.455. The Aussie edged 0.07 percent higher to $0.7258, while New Zealand’s kiwi fell 0.3 percent to $0.7011.

In US Equity Markets stocks fell on Monday, with the Nasdaq down more than 3 percent, as worries mounted over the pace of economic growth and a possible spillover from China Evergrande’s troubles. The Dow fell 2.6 percent, to 33,684.63, the S&P 500 lost 2.66 percent, to 4,315.14 and the Nasdaq Composite fell 3.18 percent, to 14,566.22. Most airline carriers were down just slightly after the United States announced it will relax travel restrictions in November on passengers from China, India, Britain and many other European countries who have received COVID-19 vaccines.

In Commodities Markets oil prices fell 2 percent on Monday as investors grew more risk averse, which hurt stock markets and boosted the U.S. dollar, making oil more expensive for holders of other currencies. Brent crude fell 1.9 percent, to settle at $73.92 a barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) declined 2.3 percent, to end at $70.29. Spot gold rose 0.5 percent to $1,762.66 per ounce. Silver fell 0.7 percent to $22.23 per ounce, its lowest since November 2020. Platinum lost 3.5 percent to $908.52 per ounce, while palladium shed 6.4 percent, the most since mid-June, to $1,888.24.

In European Equity Markets stocks fell on Monday as growing solvency worries about property group China Evergrande spooked investors, in a dour start to a week packed with meetings of major central banks. The pan-European STOXX 600 index was down 1.7 percent, with mining stocks falling 3.6 percent on a slide in commodity prices. German shares fell 2.3 percent as data showed a bigger-than-expected jump in producer prices last month. China-exposed luxury stocks such as LVMH, Kering, Hermes and Richemont fell between 1.3 percent and 3.2 percent, extending sharp losses from last week.

In Bond Markets U.S. Treasury yields fell on Monday as fears that property developer China Evergrande Group might default deepened a global equity sell-off and spurred investors to buy safe-haven bonds. Treasury prices rallied, pushing yields on the benchmark 10-year note down 6.4 basis points to 1.3057 percent. The 30-year Treasury bond yield fell 6.6 basis points to 1.8444 percent. The two-year U.S. Treasury yield was down 1 basis points at 0.216 percent. The breakeven rate on five-year U.S. Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities (TIPS) was last at 2.482 percent.