Asian stocks hovered near four-month lows on Monday amid concerns about U.S.-China tensions while the euro was confined to a narrow range after the weekend’s European Parliament elections.
Asian Stocks
Wall Street’s major indexes edged higher on Friday in a rebound from the previous session’s losses after comments from U.S. President Donald Trump on trade relations with China provided markets a bit of a respite.
- MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was virtually flat.
- Japan’s Nikkei average was up 0.3% by its midday break.
- Shanghai Composite down 0.3% and the blue-chip CSI 300 falling 0.6%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng dropped 0.5.
Currencies
Analysts said the single currency’s muted reaction came as the results showed populist and far-right parties in some countries were unlikely to have gathered as much support as anticipated.
- The euro was a shade higher at $1.1211, holding within a tight $1.2272-$1.2754.
- The pound was 0.2% higher at $1.2731 . Sterling had bounced back from a near five-month trough of $1.2605 after British Prime Minister Theresa May said she would quit.
- The greenback was holding at 109.45 yen, 0.1 percent lower on the day.
Commodities
- Oil prices were mixed on Monday as supply cuts led by producer club OPEC kept markets relatively tight, but Brent remained below $70 per barrel on concerns over the U.S.-China trade war.
- Front-month Brent crude futures, the international benchmark for oil prices, rose 0.2% to $68.79 per barrel while U.S.
- West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures retreated 0.1% to $58.55 per barrel.
