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• The pound languished near 20-month lows against the dollar on Tuesday after British Prime Minister Theresa May postponed a crucial vote on her Brexit deal, raising the risk of a chaotic exit from the European Union.

May on Monday postponed a parliamentary vote, which was due to take place on Tuesday, on her Brexit deal to seek more concessions. The move stoked more uncertainty as Britain now faces Brexit without a deal, a last-minute agreement or another EU referendum.

Sterling crawled up 0.15 percent to $1.2578 after slumping 1.3 percent the previous day, when the currency brushed $1.2507, its lowest since April 2017.

The pound's slide was a boon for the dollar, which rallied back from a 2-1/2-week low against a basket of currencies initially driven by a growing view the Federal Reserve could pause its rate hike cycle sooner than previously thought.

The dollar index, a measure of the greenback's strength versus a group of six major peers, was 0.13 percent lower at 97.092 after rallying 0.75 percent on Monday. At one stage in overnight trade it had fallen to 96.364, its lowest since Nov. 22.

"Falling U.S. yields will eventually nudge the dollar into a downtrend, but probably not at this moment," said Junichi Ishikawa, senior FX strategist at IG Securities in Tokyo.

"There just isn't enough demand for the yen, which is less of a safe haven, and the euro, with the political concerns in Europe. And there is of course the pound which is burdened with Brexit problems."

The 10-year Treasury note yield has dropped to a three-month low this week, with dovish comments from Fed officials and soft U.S. data further sharpening views on an imminent pause in the tightening cycle.

The euro nudged up to $1.1367 after shedding 0.2 percent on Monday.

• Governments in the U.S., Europe and China handle and regulate data very differently — that's a major challenge that businesses have to navigate in2019, according to consultancy Control Risks.

In China, data is seen as an economic — and potentially political — advantage that has to be guarded and contained within the country, explained Richard Fenning, the chief executive of Control Risks. In Europe, privacy is of utmost importance and must be protected, which resulted in the implementation of a new law called the General Data Protection Regulation or GDPR, he added.

The U.S., meanwhile, has traditionally seen data as something to be commercialized but that approach has come into question after the data breach fallout from the Facebook and Cambridge Analytica scandal, said the CEO.

Such different approaches mean that businesses would have a harder time collecting, storing and transferring data within and between those three major economies, Control Risks said in a report outlining the top challenges that firms would likely encounter next year.

• Huawei Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou was arrested by Canadian authorities Dec. 1 at the request of the United States. Tuesday will be the third day of bail hearings in a British Columbia court, with China criticizing her continued detention and demanding her immediate release.

The judge on Monday rolled the proceedings over to Tuesday because he wanted to hear more from both sides about the issue of surety - who will take responsibility for Meng’s actions if she were released.

Meng’s lawyer David Martin had offered her husband as surety, but the judge and the public prosecutor questioned whether Liu Xiaozong, Meng’s husband, could perform this duty as he is not a resident of British Columbia and would not suffer if she were to breach her bail conditions.

• A source close to the White House told CNN late-Monday, the US President Donald Trump has expressed concern that he could be impeached when Democrats take over the House.

A separate source close to the White House told CNN that aides inside the West Wing believe "the only issue that may stick" in the impeachment process is the campaign finance violations tied to former Trump attorney Michael Cohen's payouts to Trump's alleged mistresses.

Michael Cohen, a longtime lawyer for President Trump says he paid adult film star Stephanie Clifford, known otherwise as Stormy Daniels, $130,000. The payment happened during the campaign after Clifford alleged she had an affair with Trump.

• China and the United States discussed the road map for the next stage of their trade talks on Tuesday, during a telephone call between Chinese Vice Premier Liu He and U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer.

China’s Commerce Ministry, in a brief statement, said Liu had spoken with Mnuchin and Lighthizer on Tuesday morning Beijing time on a pre-arranged telephone call.

“Both sides exchanged views on putting into effect the consensus reached by the two countries’ leaders at their meeting, and pushing forward the timetable and roadmap for the next stage of economic and trade consultations work,” the ministry said.

China and the United States discussed the road map for the next stage of their trade talks on Tuesday, during a telephone call between Chinese Vice Premier Liu He and U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer.

Lighthizer said on Sunday that unless U.S.-China trade talks wrap up successfully by March 1, new tariffs will be imposed, clarifying there is a "hard deadline" after a week of seeming confusion among Trump and his advisers.

• Crude oil markets saw an attempt to stage a bullish recovery late Monday, but ongoing market pressures and worries of declining demand continue to keep crude barrels in a defensive posture.

Global stock markets remain weak after several rounds of risk-off action sending the world's major bourses skidding into new lows in recent weeks, and OPEC's planned attempt at a reduction in production levels beginning in January are running up against concerns that the 1.2 million barrel per day production decrease won't be enough to stem the tide of crude barrels pouring out of the US, who has opted to not follow suit with OPEC plans of a cut to production caps.

• Oil prices edged up on Tuesday after Libya’s National Oil Company declared force majeure on exports from the El Sharara oilfield, which was seized last weekend by a militia group.

Despite that, overall sentiment on oil prices remained weak amid worries over global stock markets and doubts that planned supply cuts led by producer club OPEC will be enough to rein in oversupply.

International Brent crude oil futures LCOc1 were at $60.06 per barrel at 0711 GMT, up 9 cents, or 0.15 percent, from their last close.

U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures CLc1 were at $51.02 per barrel, up 2 cents.

Reference: Reuters,CNBC, National Public Radio