In Asian Equity Markets were mostly in positive territory on Monday morning. The mainland Chinese markets gained in early trade. The Shanghai composite jumped around 1.11 percent. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index also gained 1.45 percent. Japan’s Nikkei 225 jumped 1.72 percent. Shares of Fast Retailing, the company behind the Uniqlo chain of apparel stores, rose more than 4 percent. Meanwhile, the Kospi in South Korea gained 0.92 percent as industry heavyweight Samsung Electronics saw its stock gain 1.3 percent.

In Currency Markets the U.S. dollar fell versus a basket of its peers on Monday as rising expectations of a U.S.-Sino trade deal led investors to shift away from the safety of the greenback into riskier assets. Both the United States and China reported progress in five days of negotiations in Beijing last week, although the White House said much work remains to be done to force changes in Chinese trade behaviour. The dollar index, a gauge of its value versus six major peers, was down by 0.16 percent at 96.74.

In Commodities Markets oil prices rose to their highest levels since November last year on Monday, lifted by OPEC-led supply cuts and U.S. sanctions on Iran and Venezuela. U.S. WTI crude oil futures pushed through $56 per barrel for the first time this year, hitting $56.13 a barrel before edging back to $56.02 a barrel, still up 0.8 percent from their last settlement. International Brent crude futures hit a high of $66.78 per barrel before easing to $66.65 per barrel, up 0.6 percent from their last close. For both benchmarks, these were their highest levels since Nov. 20, 2018.

In US Equity Markets indices rallied on Friday, with the Dow and the Nasdaq posting their eighth consecutive weekly gains as investors grew hopeful that the United States and China would hammer out an agreement resolving their protracted trade war. The S&P 500 gained 1.09 percent, to 2,775.6 and the Nasdaq Composite added 0.61 percent, to 7,472.41. All 11 major sectors in the S&P 500 ended the session in the black. Nvidia Corp rose 1.8 percent following the company’s forecasts for its current fiscal year topped Wall Street expectations.

In Bond Markets U.S. Treasury yields rose slightly on Friday but held in the middle of their recent range as investors digested mixed economic data for signals of Federal Reserve interest rate policy. Benchmark 10-year notes fell 2/32 in price to yield 2.666 percent, up from 2.659 percent on Thursday. The yields have held between 2.543 percent and 2.799 percent this year, after falling from a seven-year high of 3.261 percent in October.