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Risk appetites were strong in Asian trade, thanks to China's aggressive monetary easing on Friday to address a sharp economic slowdown and to hopes that Washington and Beijing can strike a comprehensive trade deal.

The euro advanced 0.22 percent versus the dollar while the Australian dollar, often considered a barometer of global risk appetite, rose 0.2 pct and touched its highest level since Dec. 20.

Against the yen, the greenback fell 0.41 percent, fetching 108.09.

"The newsflow we have seen since Friday has lifted sentiment," said Michael McCarthy, chief markets strategist at CMC Markets in Sydney. "The market certainly liked what (Fed Chair Jerome) Powell said on Friday and the reaction has been negative for the dollar."

McCarthy also said China's cuts in bank reserve requirements "are very important and have lifted commodities... this should be supportive for the Australian dollar."

The dollar index, a gauge of its value versus six major peers, stood at 95.96 at 0406 GMT Monday, down 0.2 percent from an intraday high of 96.16.

Analysts expect further monetary stimulus from Beijing in 2019. Ray Attrill, head of currency strategy at National Australia Bank, thinks it may be reasonable to expect as many as four 100 bps cuts this year.

The dollar lost 0.2 percent versus the offshore yuan to 6.8490.

• More Britons want to remain a member of the European Union than leave, according to a survey published on Sunday which also showed voters want to make the final decision themselves.

Britain is due leave the EU on March 29, but Prime Minister Theresa May is struggling to get her exit deal approved by parliament, opening up huge uncertainty over whether a deal is possible, or even whether the country will leave at all.

The survey by polling firm YouGov showed that if a referendum were held immediately, 46 percent would vote to remain, 39 percent would vote to leave, and the rest either did not know, would not vote, or refused to answer the question.

• President Donald Trump will be pushed to make a trade deal with China should markets continue to slide, said Pushan Dutt, an economics and political science professor at INSEAD business school.

The U.S. and China will hold vice ministerial level trade talks in Beijing on Jan 7-8, according to the Chinese commerce ministry.

Dutt acknowledged that the issues at hand are "very complex and difficult," and both parties will unlikely come to a comprehensive deal at the end of a 90-day trade truce — but there will likely be some sort of a smaller agreement, he said.

• Apple announced a partnership with Samsung, one of its fiercest rivals, on Sunday morning. Soon, customers who owns select Samsung smart TVs will be able to access iTunes movie and TV content. AirPlay 2 support will let iPhone and iPad owners send content from their screens to the TVs, too.

The announcement shows how much Apple is changing, and how it's working closer with one-time rivals to bring its services to more people.

• Prime Minister Theresa May said on Sunday that Britain would be in uncharted territory if her Brexit deal is rejected by parliament later this month, despite little sign that she has won over skeptical lawmakers.

May said the vote in parliament would be around Jan. 15, as expected, contrary to reports she could delay it.

• New Trump administration policies aimed at curbing China’s access to American innovation have all but halted Chinese investment in U.S. technology startups, as both investors and startup founders abandon deals amid scrutiny from Washington.

Chinese venture funding in U.S. startups crested to a record $3 billion last year, according to New York economic research firm Rhodium Group, spurred by a rush of investors and tech companies scrambling to complete deals before a new regulatory regime was approved in August.

Since then, Chinese venture funding in U.S. startups has slowed to a trickle, Reuters interviews with more than 35 industry players show.

• China and the United States have expressed a will to work together to implement the consensus of their presidents, the Chinese foreign ministry said on Monday, as trade talks between the world’s two biggest economies resumed.

• Oil prices jumped around 1.5 percent on Monday, pushed up by optimism that talks in Beijing can resolve a trade war between the United States and China, while supply cuts by major producers also supported crude.

Brent crude futures LCOc1 were at $57.93 per barrel at 0635 GMT, up 87 cents, or 1.5 percent, from their last close.

U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil futures CLc1 were at $48.76 per barrel, up 80 cents, or 1.7 percent.

Reference: Reuters, CNBC