Asian markets were searching for direction on Monday as traders looked towards the meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping that will take place at the end of the week. Monday’s choppy trading comes after a quiet holiday weekend in the U.S. that was marred by lingering trader concerns about global trade issues and the ongoing oil supply glut.
On the Asian markets, Monday’s leaders included South Korea’s Kospi which was up 1.24 percent as of 3:06 p.m. HK/SIN, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index which rose 1.44 percent by the late afternoon, and Japan’s Nikkei 225 which was up 0.76 percent. Australia’s ASX 200 fell 0.78 percent while China’s leading indexes, the Shanghai Composite and the Shenzhen Composite slumped 0.31 percent and 0.19 percent respectively.
On the commodities markets, oil prices recovered slightly from Friday’s widespread selloff that sent prices to 13-month lows. Rumors began circulating that OPEC will implement a ‘secret’ supply cut that will help boost prices without upsetting President Trump who has voiced public satisfaction about the declining oil prices. According to reports by CNBC and the Wall Street Journal, the cut would require Saudi Arabia to curb production by 1 million barrels per day. Brent crude futures jumped 2.19 percent on renewed trader optimism, bringing the commodity to $60.09 per barrel. U.S. WTI futures were 1.47 percent higher to $51.16 per barrel.
Currency Movements
In Europe on Sunday, EU leaders gave their official endorsement to UK Prime Minister Theresa May’s Brexit plan. The news sent European currencies higher, with the euro trading up 0.18 percent against the dollar to $1.1361. The pound was also up against the dollar, trading at $1.2825, a 0.10 percent gain.
On Sunday, Bitcoin prices fell below $3500 for the first time since September 2017, another steep drop since the cryptocurrency fell below the $6000 mark for the first time earlier this month. The cryptocurrency was trading at $4,010.01 in Asia’s late afternoon according to Coinbase, a 37.43 percent decline since last month, and a 35 percent drop since last week.