– Indices from Asia-Pacific traded mostly higher at the beginning of a new week. Nikkei and S&P/ASX 200 traded 0.1% higher, Kospi added 0.2% and Nifty 50 dropped 0.1%. Indices from China traded up to 2% higher

– DAX futures point to a higher opening of the European cash session today

– US index futures trade little change compared to Friday’s cash closing prices

– US and Canadian traders are off for holidays today so liquidity conditions in the afternoon may be thinner

– US Secretary of State Blinken said that US has information suggesting that China is considering providing Russia with ammunition and lethal weapons for war in Ukraine

– Bloomberg reports that meeting between Blinken and his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi over the weekend was rocky and far from encouraging

– People’s Bank of China left 1- and 5-year prime lending rates unchanged at 3.65 and 4.30%, respectively. Decision was in-line with expectations

– According to Reuters report, People’s Bank of China has reportedly asked domestic bank to slow issuance of loans this month

– North Korea fired two ballistic missiles today. UN Security Council will convene at 8:00 pm GMT today to discuss the situation

– Cryptocurrencies are trading mixed today with major coins experiencing rather small moves. Bitcoin drops 0.2%, Ethereum trades 0.3% higher and Dogecoin adds 0.4%

– Energy commodities trade mixed – oil gains 0.8-0.9% while natural gas pulls back around 2%

– Precious metals benefit from USD weakening at the beginning of a new week – gold and silver gain around 0.1% each while platinum adds almost 0.5%

– AUD and JPY are the best performing major currencies while CHF, EUR and USD lag the most