• The dollar steadied close to its highest level in ten weeks on Monday, with strong U.S. wages data at the end of last week giving investors confidence that the Federal Reserve will hike rates in December and again after that.
The dollar index - which measures the greenback against a basket of six other major currencies - hit its highest since late July on the numbers, at 94.267. It traded close to that level on Monday, flat on the day at 93.789.
• German industrial production jumped more than expected in August, posting its biggest monthly increase in more than six years, data showed on Monday, in a further sign that Europe’s biggest economy is set for solid growth in the third quarter.
Industrial output increased by 2.6 on the month in August after edging down by 0.1 percent in July, data from the Economy Ministry showed.
• Business activity in China’s services sector grew at its slowest pace in 21 months in September as the pace of new business cooled, a private survey showed.
The Caixin/Markit services purchasing managers’ index (PMI) fell to 50.6 in September, the lowest reading since December 2015 and one of the weakest since the survey began in 2005.
A reading above 50 indicates growth, and any lower than that signals contraction. The index had hit a three month high of 52.7 in August.
• The promotion of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s 28-year-old sister to the country’s top decision-making body is a sign he is strengthening his position by drawing his most important people closer to the centre of power, experts and officials say.
Kim Yo Jong was named as an alternate member of the politburo within the ruling Workers’ Party of Korea - the opaque, all-powerful party organ where top state affairs are decided, the North’s official media said on Sunday.
• Oil prices stabilized on Monday, after a 2 percent slide on Friday, as the number of rigs drilling for new oil in the United States dipped and on expectations that Saudi Arabia would continue to restrain its output to support the market.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were trading at $49.38 per barrel at 0702 GMT, up 9 cents from their last close.
Brent crude futures were flat from their last close, at $55.62 a barrel.
Trading activity was low on Monday due to the Columbus Day holiday in the United States, although markets there are open.
Reference: Reuters, CNBC
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