General Sentiment

Asian shares were mostly down after gold broke the $1750 support level to as low as $1,684. Oil prices also fell largely due to the delta variant still spreading intensely. Meanwhile, Markets happen to still be digesting Friday’s strong U.S. Payroll data, and if that meant it’s a closer step for the Fed to start tapering and winding back its stimulus.

Equities

Stocks on Friday closed at record highs after the Non-farm payroll scored better than expected figures. Non-farm payrolls rose 943K VS 870K expected and 938K previous. The U.S. Unemployment rate also declined to 5.4% in July.

The S&P rose to record highs on Friday with financials posting their biggest gain since mid-July. Shares of Robinhood surged again, this time 7.9% after brokerages became on the hot trending list of meme stocks.

Currency Market

The dollar climbed a four-month high vs the Euro, on earlier tapering expectations fueled by a better than expected US job report. The USD rose to 92.80.

The USD/JPY fell 0.03% to 110.22 as Japanese markets closed for a holiday.

The GBP/USD fell 0.01% to 1.387.

Commodities: Gold

Gold tumbled more than 4% to as low as $1,684. On expectations of earlier tapering by the fed.

Commodities: Oil

Oil prices extended losses after their largest weekly loss on the back of delta variant concerns that weighed on the fuel demand outlook. Brent skidded to $69.26 a barrel while WTI fell to $66.90.