In Asian Equity Markets indices fell on Tuesday as a combination of a retreat in risk appetite and profit-taking dented the broader market, with financials and index-heavy shares under-performing. The Nikkei fell 1.0 percent to 21,925.10, after rising 2 percent on Monday. Banks and insurers lost ground, with Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group declining 1.1 percent, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group shedding 1.2 percent and T&D Holdings dropped 2.3 percent. Index-heavy stocks, which rose on Monday, languished. Fast Retailing fell 2.2 percent and Fanuc Corp stumbled 2.5 percent. South Korea Kospi slipped 0.83 percent, with losses seen in heavyweight technology names. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index erased early losses to edge higher by 0.12 percent as markets resumed trade after a long Lunar New Year weekend.

In Currency Markets the US dollar inched higher versus a basket of major currencies on Tuesday, clinging above a three-year low set last week, but its outlook was clouded by concerns that the ballooning U.S. fiscal deficit could disrupt the economy. The dollar’s index versus six major peers stood at 89.347, about 1.2 percent above Friday’s three-year low of 88.251. The dollar has been weakening in recent months, with the positive impetus from rising U.S. interest rates offset by a barrage of bearish factors. Against the yen, the dollar edged up 0.2 percent to 106.77 yen, having bounced back from a 15-month low of 105.545 set on Friday. The euro eased 0.2 percent to $1.2387, backing down from Friday’s three-year high of $1.2556.

In Commodities Markets oil markets were split on Tuesday, with U.S. crude pushed up by reduced flows from Canada while international Brent prices eased. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were at $62.38 a barrel, up 70 cents, or 1.1 percent, from their last settlement. Brent crude futures were at $65.48 per barrel, down 19 cents, or 0.3 percent, from their last close. The opposing price direction of the two main crude benchmarks has sharply reduced WTI’s discount to Brent, to around $3.22 per barrel on Tuesday, down from over $7 in late 2017. Last week, the amount of U.S. oil rigs drilling for new production rose for a fourth straight week to 798, in an indication that U.S. crude output, already at a record 10.27 million bpd, may rise further.

In US Equity Markets trading activity was closed due to President Days’ holiday.

In Bond Markets Latvia’s benchmark bond fell on Monday, after one of the country’s biggest banks was accused of breaching Western sanctions on North Korea and its central bank governor was detained by the country’s anti-corruption agency. The moves saw the main Oct 2026 euro-dominated bond fell 0.67 cents to 96, its lowest since August. The yield, which moves inverse to the bond’s price, climbed to 0.85 percent. ABLV Bank, Latvia third biggest lender, was ordered by the European Central Bank — its supervisor — to stop all payments on Monday as its “liquidity position” had deteriorated sharply since the U.S. Treasury accused it last week of money laundering.