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· U.S. stocks ended nominally lower on Friday as investors awaited next week’s Federal Reserve meeting for signs of imminent easing, while the U.S.-Iran confrontation in the Gulf of Oman added to geopolitical uncertainty, sending oil prices higher.

Positive U.S. retail sales data helped boost the dollar and short-term Treasury yields.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 17.16 points, or 0.07%, to 26,089.61, the S&P 500 lost 4.66 points, or 0.16%, to 2,886.98 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 40.47 points, or 0.52%, to 7,796.66.

Stocks fell on Friday after a sharp decline in Broadcom shares put other chipmakers and the broader tech sector under pressure.

Broadcom fell more than 5% after the chipmaker posted weaker-than-expected revenue for the previous quarter and cut its guidance for 2019, citing “broad-based ” demand weakness and the U.S. crackdown on Huawei. The VanEck Vectors Semiconductor ETF (SMH) fell 2.7%.

· European stocks closed in the negative territory on Friday as tensions heightened between the U.S. and Iran, following attacks on two oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman on Thursday.

The pan-European Stoxx 600 came off its session lows and closed 0.37% lower. Tech stocks underperformed with the sector down 1.75%, while the majority of other sectors were trading in the red. Utilities and energy, however posted minor gains.

· Stocks in Asia traded lower on Monday as investors await a U.S. Federal Reserve meeting set to happen later in the week stateside.

The Nikkei 225 in Japan declined 0.25% in early trade, with shares of Tokyo Electron plunging more than 3.5%. The Topix index also slipped 0.31%

In South Korea, the Kospi shed 0.26%, while Australia’s ASX 200 fell 0.31%.

· Companies listed in Britain will be able to sell shares in China on Monday with the launch of a long-awaited London-Shanghai Stock Connect project that finance minister Philip Hammond called a chance to deepen “global connectivity”.

Under the Connect scheme, Shanghai-listed companies can raise new funds via London’s stock market while British companies can broaden their investor base by selling existing shares in Shanghai.

Huatai Securities Co Ltd then effectively launched Connect earlier this month with the announcement of plans to raise money on the London Stock Exchange (LSE).