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• The euro rose on Monday after a Reuters report that European Central Bank officials were shifting their debate from bond purchases to the expected path of interest rates, reviving bets that the ECB may raise rates sooner than previously thought.

Sterling pushed to its highest against the euro in more than five weeks and against the dollar in more than a month, as Britain and the European Union appeared to reach a broad agreement on a post-Brexit transition period and the Irish border.

In late-afternoon U.S. trading, the euro zone single currency was last up 0.46 percent, at $1.2344.

• The strength in euro and sterling put downward pressure on the dollar as traders speculated whether the Federal Reserve may signal a faster pace of rate increases in the coming months as the labour market tightens further.

The dollar index, which tracks the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, fell 0.45 percent to 89.826.

• The drop in European and U.S. indexes came as central banks appeared to be preparing for more rate hikes. A Reuters report that the European Central Bank expects a rate hike by mid-2019 started helping the euro recover from a difficult morning against the dollar.

• Wall Street is looking toward the Fed’s two-day policy meeting, which concludes on Wednesday, with 104 analysts polled by Reuters expecting the central bank will raise rates 25 basis points to a range of 1.50 percent to 1.75 percent.

Yields in benchmark 10-year Treasuries held steady, reflecting investor rate hike expectations.

After the meeting, Fed Chairman Jerome Powell will hold a his first press conference as the central bank’s new chief.

• Analysts at JPMorgan see a risk the Fed might not only add one more rate rise for this year but for 2019 as well.

• World financial leaders pleaded for an endorsement of free trade on Monday amid worries about U.S. metals tariffs and looming trade sanctions on China, but Trump administration officials said they would not sacrifice U.S. national interests.

• The Trump administration is expected to unveil up to $60 billion in new tariffs on Chinese imports by Friday, targeting technology, telecommunications and intellectual property, two officials briefed on the matter said Monday.

• President Donald Trump on Monday signed an executive order barring any U.S.-based financial transactions involving Venezuela’s new petro cryptocurrency, as U.S. officials warned that it was a “scam” by President Nicolas Maduro’s government to further undermine democracy in the OPEC country.

“The ‘petro’ is a desperate effort by a corrupt regime to defraud international investors,” a senior U.S. administration official told reporters, strongly warning that any transactions in the petro digital currency would violate U.S. sanctions.

• Britain and the European Union agreed on Monday to a transition period to avoid a “cliff edge” Brexit next year — though only after London accepted a potential solution for Northern Ireland’s land border that may face stiff opposition at home.

The pound surged on confirmation that Britain would remain effectively a non-voting EU member for 21 months until the end of 2020. Some business leaders, however, echoed a warning from EU negotiator Michel Barnier that the deal is legally binding only if London agrees the whole withdrawal treaty by next March.

• Confidence among Japanese manufacturers edged up in March from three months ago and the service sector’s mood hit a three-year high, the Reuters Tankan poll showed on Tuesday, signaling solid readings in the central bank’s closely-watched quarterly tankan survey.

Solid tankan readings should support the BOJ’s optimistic economic view. But the central bank is in no mood to exit its easy money policy anytime soon, despite the economy’s strong performance, with inflation still far below its 2 percent target.

• Oil prices slipped on Monday as Wall Street slid more than 1 percent and energy market investors remained wary of growing crude supply, although tensions between Saudi Arabia and Iran gave prices some support.

Brent crude futures LCOc1 dropped 16 cents, or 0.2 percent, to settle at $66.05 a barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures CLc1 fell 28 cents, or 0.5percent, to end at $62.06 a barrel.