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GBP/USD looks to traction above 1.4300 post-UK GDP data release

- EUR/USD spikes upwards beyond 1.0900

- EUR/GBP drops below 0.7630/1.3106

The Pound is now gathering further traction vs. the greenback, sending GBP/USD to test session highs above 1.4300.

Fresh buying activity emerged around 1.4244 amid renewed optimism in the European stock markets after global oil prices recovered losses and the pair has now stabilized. In European Stock Markets, Germany’s DAX gains 0.15%, while the UK’s FTSE rises 0.27% and the pan-European benchmark, the Euro Stoxx advances 0.43%. Moreover, the GBP/USD accelerated upwards after UK GDP figures matched expectations this morning, showing the economy has expanded 1.9% on an annual basis during Q4 2015 and 0.5% Quarter-on-Quarter. Further releases saw the UK Index of Services, which measures the movement in gross value added for the service industries, advancing 0.6% on the three months ended in November up from the previous 0.5% gain.

As of writing the pair is up 0.43% at 1.4326 and a breakout of 1.4408 would open the door to 1.4659 and then 1.4811. On the other hand, the next support lies at 1.4079 (Multi-year Low 21/01) ahead of 1.4049 (Monthly Low 02/2009) and finally 1.4000 (Key psychological level).

The EUR/USD pair caught a sudden buying wave this morning and witnessed a 50-pips spike after receiving a fresh boost from impressive Spanish economic data releases.

The EUR/USD pair halted its corrective slide at 1.0869 and rebounded sharply higher beyond the 1.0900 level after a fresh set of upbeat Spanish data rescued the Euro buyers from daily lows. At time of writing, EUR/USD trades near fresh weekly highs of 1.0925, up 0.21% on the day. The Unemployment rate in Spain was 20.9% in Q4 2015, an improvement from the previous figure of 21.18% and better than forecast, and stands at the lowest level since Q2 2011. While the Spanish Retail Sales figures posted a growth of 3.2% year-on-year in December, mildly lower than the 4.2% growth booked previously. The Euro kept its upbeat sentiment, despite the fact that Industrial Confidence dropped to 3.2, Business Climate fell to 0.29, Service Sentiment has come in at 11.6 and Economic Sentiment printed 105.0, all of them below expectations. However on a more optimistic side, Consumer Confidence matched estimates at -6.3. Attention now remains on the German Inflation figures due out at 13:00 GMT as well as on a host of US economic updates due later in the US trading session this afternoon. The US Durable Goods data will be most closely eyed by the financial markets, as it is considered as a good indicator for the US GDP figure that will be reported tomorrow.

The pair finds the immediate resistance is seen at 1.0941/ 57 (High 19/01). A break beyond the last, doors will open for a test of 1.0997/ 1.1000. On the flip side, the immediate support is placed at 1.0870/67, below which 1.0803 (Low 13/01) could be tested.

The Pound continued to gain ground on upbeat UK GDP and UK Services industry activity figures, pushing EUR/GBP below 0.7630/1.3106.

Unlike in the EUR/USD pair, the Euro felt the heat of the weaker-than-expected Eurozone sentiment indices – services sentiment, business climate, economic sentiment and industrial confidence against the Pound. However, the major part of the drop in the EUR/GBP to 0.7608/1.3144 was due to rise in demand for the Pound on the back of positive domestic UK data. The focus now is on the preliminary German CPI (Inflation) figure. The Harmonized German CPI (Inflation) figure is expected to show the drop in the oil prices pushed the German economy into deflation.

The immediate support is seen at 0.7596/1.3164, under which the European pair would expose 0.7573/1.3204. On the other hand, a break above 0.7630/1.3106 could see the pair test 0.7666/1.3044 (High 27/01).

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Asia stocks head for weekly loss, China yuan hits four-and-a-half-year low


Asian shares were set for sizable weekly losses, with equities faltering again on Friday as plunging crude oil prices and a tumble in China's yuan to almost 4-1/2-year lows added to worries about receding global growth.

A supply glut in oil markets and cooling growth in China, the world's biggest commodities consumer, have pressured many asset markets ahead of a widely expected hike to U.S. interest rates by the Federal Reserve next week.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS erased early modest gains and was down about 0.6 percent, facing a nearly 3 percent weekly loss.

The gloom was expected to carry into European trading, with financial spreadbetters predicting Britain's FTSE 100 .FTSE would open down by as much as 0.3 percent. Germany's DAX .GDAXI was seen as much as 0.1 percent lower, while France's CAC .FCHI expected to shed up to 0.3 percent.

The People's Bank of China (PBOC) set its guidance rate at the weakest level in more than four years on Friday, a sign Beijing is permitting the currency to depreciate after it was included in the International Monetary Fund's reserve basket.

The lower fixings have also raised questions about how far the central bank intends to let it depreciate.

In the spot market, the yuan CNY=CFXS was changing hands at 6.4499, after taking out its August low hit after the unexpected devaluation of the Chinese currency and marking its lowest level since the middle of 2011.

"A U.S. rate hike would have a major impact on money flows out of emerging markets including Hong Kong and China," said Linus Yip, chief strategist at First Shanghai Securities.

"Also, if the yuan continues to depreciate, that's negative to stocks as well, because it means investors are not confident about China's economic restructuring."

Chinese shares were lower ahead of a spate of economic data scheduled to be released on Saturday. ECONCN

The CSI300 index .CSI300 of the largest listed companies in Shanghai and Shenzhen was down 0.5 percent, while the Shanghai Composite Index .SSEC shed 0.7 percent.

Also weighing on the market mood were media reports that Guo Guangchang, chairman and founder of Chinese conglomerate Fosun, could not be reached.

JAPAN MARKETS WELCOME WEAKER YEN

Japan's Nikkei stock index .N225 bucked the trend, buoyed by overnight gains on Wall Street and a weaker yen, and ended up 1 percent. But it was still logged a loss of 1.4 percent for the week.

The dollar index .DXY, which tracks the U.S. unit against a basket of six major rivals, edged up slightly to 97.953. But it was on track for a weekly loss of about 0.4 percent after investors trimmed dollar-long positions ahead of next week's U.S. Federal Reserve meeting at which the central bank is widely expected to hike interest rates for the first time in nearly a decade.

Fed fund futures place an 85 percent chance of the Fed raising rates at its Dec. 15-16 meeting. A recent Reuters poll also showed that all but one of 18 brokerages that deal directly with the Fed expect a rate increase.

The euro EUR= edged up about 0.1 percent to $1.0947, up about 0.6 percent for the week after comments from the European Central Bank's Ewald Nowotny this week raised doubts about the extent to which U.S. and European monetary policy will diverge.

The dollar added 0.3 percent against its Japanese counterpart to 121.95 JPY= but was still down around 0.9 percent for the week.

Despite this week's softer dollar, crude oil futures continued to wallow close to 2009 lows on oversupply fears. U.S. crude CLc1 fell 0.6 percent to $36.55 a barrel. Brent LCOc1 skidded 0.6 percent to $39.49.

South Africa's rand, meanwhile, plumbed record lows against the U.S. dollar after the abrupt dismissal of respected Finance Minister Nhlanhla Nene to make room for an ally of President Jacob Zuma.

The rand ZAR= sunk as low as 15.4895 against the greenback, and was last at 15.4480.

(Additional reporting by Samuel Shen and Pete Sweeney in Shanghai; Editing by Shri Navaratnam and Eric Meijer)

4 Best Internet Of Things Stock Buys

This story appears in the December 28, 2015 issue of Forbes. Subscribe
The Internet of Things is easily the most overhyped technology advance of the last 2,000 years. It’s less important than agriculture, the internal combustion engine, the electric light, the airplane, antibiotics, wireless phones, space travel, the Internet itself and, arguably, sugarless gum.
But it’s still incredibly important and could represent one of the most lucrative investment opportunities of our lifetime.
Connecting every tangible item and every person in an immersive web of dynamic intelligence over the next 15 years will yield stunning productivity, environmental, medical, entertainment and human benefits.
The new connective mesh could usher in the sort of utopian “hive mind” imagined by science fiction and currently practiced by bees and ants in which no keys are ever lost, no fact unremembered and no communications unsent. Imagine a mind-blowing state of total awareness.
With changes so massive coming you would think it would be easy to figure out how to take advantage. Most white papers at think tanks focus on the connectivity of the things, such as network equipment and sensors. And, to be sure, the recent spate of big semiconductor mergers–i.e., Avago buying Broadcom, Intel buying Altera and NXP Semi buying Freescale–are aimed at scaling up to dominate this next phase of profound connectivity.
Yet most of the value of this brave new world will be in the software that compiles, analyzes and gives meaning to the data collected by billions of sensors and seamlessly knits together objects and people. You might even say that the best Internet of Things projects won’t be products at all. They will be services that help us navigate the physical and online worlds with less friction and more joy. The easy software bets in this space are platform toll-takers like the Amazon Web Services and the Azure cloud services unit of Microsoft. But for aggressive investors, the smart bet will be in smaller, cutting-edge software and design companies that help clients bend and blend the worlds of sensors, marketing, connectivity, the cloud and aesthetics for customers’ benefit.

One of the most intriguing along these lines is Globant (GLOB, 36), a little-known technology design and engineering firm that went public in mid-2014 at $10 and has since quietly tripled, where it sports a modest $1.2 billion market cap and a forward price/earnings multiple of 32 times.

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GBP/USD sees fresh buying activity to move above 1.5115

- EUR/USD stabilizes below 1.0900 ahead of US Non-Farm Payrolls Report

- EUR/GBP retreats further to 0.7180

The GBP/USD pair ran into fresh buying activity at 1.5078 and moved back above 1.5115 this morning, with no scheduled UK economic data releases for today.

The US November Non-Farm Payrolls Report is likely to show the economy added 200K jobs, while the US Unemployment Rate should stay unchanged at 5%. Traders will also be watching to see if the US Average Weekly Earnings are holding up well. It remains to be seen if a lower than expected outcome for the US Non-Farm Payrolls Report triggers a major adjustment in the US Federal Reserve Bank (Fed) interest rate hike bets. Only then it seems would the foreign exchange markets react as the announcement of the Fed's first interest rate hike since before 2008 at the US FOMC (Federal Open Market Committee) meeting on 16th December is widely considered as a done deal now.

At 1.5130, a break below the immediate support at 1.5115 would expose 1.5087, which, if taken out would expose 1.5041. On the other side, resistance is seen at 1.5164 (Low 04/09) and 1.5167. A break higher would open doors to the key 1.5200 level.

The Euro keeps the downbeat tone on Friday vs. the US Dollar, with EUR/USD meandering a tight range below the 1.0900 level.

Following the sharp European Central Bank (ECB) induced upside seen on Thursday, spot has retreated below 1.0900 where it is now trying to consolidate ahead of today’s Non-Farm Payrolls Report. Recall that consensus sees the US economy to have created 200K jobs during the last month, while the US Unemployment Rate is expected at 5%. Economic data wise so far in the Euro zone, German Factory Orders have come in on the strong side today, expanding at a monthly pace of 1.8% during October and contracting at a non-seasonally adjusted 1.4% over the last twelve months.

At the moment the pair is losing 0.62% at 1.0882 facing the next support at 1.0753 followed by 1.0524 (Low 03/12) and then 1.0519 (Low 13/04). On the upside, a breakout of 1.1036 would target 1.1096 (High 28/10) en route to 1.1124.

The Euro remains on the defensive today after yesterday’s stellar upside move, now pushing EUR/GBP to daily lows near 0.7180/1.3927.

The European pair is retreating from 6-week highs in the mid-0.7200's after the ECB surprised markets at its economic policy meeting on Thursday. However, a re-emergence of the positive sentiment around the US Dollar is prompting the Euro to surrender part of its recent gains and is thus dragging EUR/GBP back below the 0.7200/1.3888 mark. On the economic data front, with no UK releases due today, German Factory Orders have come in better than expectations during October, although market participants have largely ignored these results ahead of the US Non-Farm Payrolls Report due this afternoon.

As of writing the pair is retreating 0.61% at 0.7182 facing the next support at 0.7101/1.4082 ahead of 0.7000/1.4285 (key psychological level) and then 0.6979/1,4328 (Low 18/11). On the other hand, a break above 0.7251/1.3791 (High 03/12) would open the door to 0.7299/1.3700 and finally 0.7376/1.3557 (High 21/10).

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Indian economy better placed than other emerging markets

he collapse of the commodity market and fears of a Fed rate hike have left global emerging economies reeling. However, the Indian economy has fared better than the rest. ET takes a close look at the fundamentals of the eight large emerging markets of the world.

CHINA
POSITIVES: Single digit valuation. Large forex reserves ($3.5 trillion).
NEGATIVES: Growth rate is falling. There is no democratic structure. Capital market lacks depth. Doubts remain a ..

BRAZIL
POSITIVES: With the market falling to poverty line. High income disparity. near 2009 crisis levels, the valuation is cheap and the upside potential is worth the downside risk.
NEGATIVES: The commodity exporter is going through a deep recession. IMF expects its GDP to contract by 1% in 2016. It is facing high inflation. Its currency has fallen 36 per cent against the $ in one year. The country has lost its coveted investment grade status. There are fears.

RUSSIA
POSITIVES: With an earnings yield of 17 per cent against a 10-year bond yield of 11 per cent, it is the cheapest major emerging market on valuation.
NEGATIVES: Economy continues to contract due to the collapse in oil prices. Inflation is very high and the currency is falling. The war in Syria is putting additional pressure on the government's finances.

INDIA
POSITIVES: Falling oil prices. Business-friendly govt. Favourable demographics. Rising middle class. Regulated capital market. Rupee performing better than most other currencies.
NEGATIVES: Exports to suffer due to global weakness. Fear of economic agenda getting derailed.

SOUTH KOREA
POSITIVES: Though still pegged among the emerging markets, it is a well developed economy. Large manufacturing base and home to well-known global brands like Samsung, Hyundai Motors and POSCO. Benefits from the commodity price decline. After its external debt fell to 38 per cent of its GDP, S&P upgraded its credit rating to AA-, the highest in 18 years.
NEGATIVES: Heavy dependence on exports for growth. Agenda may get derailed by politics.

MEXICO
POSITIVES: It is a part of North American Free Trade Agreement and will benefit more from the expected US recovery. S&P places Mexico among the least vulnerable to global crisis. Stable capital market. IPOs raised $1.7 billion on y-t-d against $659 million last year.
NEGATIVES: More than 50% below poverty line. High income disparity.

TURKEY
POSITIVES: Growing much faster than other European countries.
NEGATIVES: S&P places Turkey among the most vulnerable to global crisis. High inflation due to currency depreciation. High unemployment. Migrations from Syria putting pressure on finances. Political uncertainty.

SOUTH AFRICA
POSITIVES: S. Africa improved its position to 49 from 56 in the global competitiveness index.
NEGATIVES: High dependence on gold exports. Overtaken by Nigeria as biggest African economy. Slow GDP growth. High fiscal deficit. Unemployment. Highest inequality rate in the world.

China’s Baby-Related Stocks Rise on Two-Child Policy

The demise of the one-child policy isn’t just good news for China’s couples hoping to have another child – it’s also a boon for the companies vying for their business.

On Thursday, several baby-related stocks surged ahead of the announcement by China’s official Xinhua News Agency that the notorious population-control policy will come to an end. Stroller and car-seat maker Goodbaby International jumped 7.4%, while infant-formula maker Biostimes rose 5.5%. Shenzhen-listed Beingmate Baby & Child Food also rose 4.8%.

The policy move had been rumored in several Chinese state-run media outlets, including the 21st Century Business Herald, which reported that China’s National Health and Family Planning Commission had recently held internal discussions related to an “adjustment of birth policy.”
Xinhua didn’t provide a time frame or any further details about the move to a two-child policy.
Two years ago, when Chinese authorities eased the country’s reproductive policy so that married couples could have two children if at least one spouse is an only child, there was a similar stock bump in anticipation of a baby boomlet. Infant formula, diaper and even piano companies jumped on the day after the news of the policy shift, while shares of one contraception company were slightly down.

Those expectations, however, proved to be off-the-mark. Officials had projected a two-million rise in new births in the year after the policy tweak—yet only 804,000 couples had applied by the end of September 2014 to have a second child. The relaxing of the rules in 2013 meant that an estimated 11 million Chinese couples were newly eligible to have additional children, but less than 7% opted for a new baby by late last year, according to one demographer’s calculations.

Thursday’s move to fully convert the one-child policy to a two-child policy may likewise end up falling short of Beijing’s hopes, experts say. That means that China’s leaders will once again be headed back to the drawing board in figuring out ways to give the country new life.

Asia stocks slip, dollar strong as Fed opens door to Dec hike

Asian shares fell and the dollar stood tall on Thursday, after the U.S. Federal Reserve revived market expectations that it may yet raise interest rates by year-end.

European markets are poised to open mixed, with financial spreadbetters expecting Britain's FTSE 100 .FTSE to lose about 0.1 percent on the open, and Germany's DAX .GDAXI and France's CAC40 .FCHI to start the day up 0.5 percent.

While Wall Street ended a volatile session with solid gains, apparently underpinned by the Fed's vote of confidence in the U.S. economy, MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan extended losses to 1.1 percent as of 0621 GMT.

The reaction in Asia was typical of recent tentative trading in global markets as the backdrop of slowing global growth made investors anxious over the Fed's policy direction.

Indeed, S&P 500 e-mini futures ESc1 edged down about 0.3 percent.

In overnight trade, U.S. Treasury yields and the dollar rose while Wall Street initially sold off and then reversed, after the Fed explicitly referred in its statement at the end of its two-day policy meeting, to conditions necessary "to raise the target range at its next meeting."

Reference to a particular meeting is rare for the U.S. central bank.

"There is no doubt an earlier move may give the markets greater clarity and more confidence," said Chris Brankin, chief executive officer of TD Ameritrade Asia in Singapore. "However, focusing on the timing is feeding uncertainty."

Another key signal was what the Fed did not say about global conditions. When it held policy steady last month, the Fed expressed concern that a slowing global economy could threaten the U.S. outlook, so investors viewed the absence of these worries in the latest statement as opening the door to a rate hike this year.

"The biggest market risk has been the removal of the premium in the U.S. dollar on the theory that the risk to the global and domestic economy is/was enough to stay until next year," Evan Lucas, market strategist at IG in Melbourne, wrote in a note. "The market has been forced to reset its view on central bank differentials."

The dollar declined 0.3 percent to 120.77 yen JPY= after spiking as high as 121.26 on Wednesday from a session low of 120.02.

The dollar index .DXY, which tracks the U.S. currency against a basket of six of its major peers, fell about 0.3 percent to 97.519, but remained near the 2-1/2-month peak of 97.818 scaled after the Fed's statement.

The euro reversed earlier losses, gaining about 0.2 percent to $1.0938 EUR= after skidding to a 2-1/2 month low of $1.0826 overnight.

The European Central Bank last week signaled its readiness to inject more stimulus to boost prices and the People's Bank of China followed with its sixth interest rate cut in less than a year and a reduction in the amount of cash banks must hold as reserves.

Investors are speculating that the Bank of Japan could also expand its easing steps to keep economic recovery on track, but unexpectedly strong industrial output data on Thursday reduced the chance of the BOJ acting at its meeting on Friday.

Japan's Nikkei .N225, which swung between gains and losses, ended the day up 0.2 percent.

The Reserve Bank of New Zealand kept interest rates steady on Thursday as expected but reiterated that some further easing seemed likely eventually.

The New Zealand dollar dropped about 0.5 percent to $0.6663.

U.S. crude oil futures shrugged off the stronger dollar and retained most of their gains after soaring more than 6 percent overnight as the government reported an inventory build-up, which triggered a short-covering rally after three days of losses.

U.S. crude CLc1 fell about 0.6 percent to $45.67 a barrel. Brent LCOc1 slipped 0.6 percent to $48.78.

Spot gold XAU= edged up about 0.5 percent in Asian trade to $1,161.71 an ounce, after skidding more than 1 percent in the previous session in the wake of the Fed's hawkish message.

Asia slips before Fed, Aussie drops on soft inflation

Asian stocks slipped on Wednesday but losses were capped by caution ahead of a U.S. Federal Reserve policy decision later in the day.

Spreadbetters expected a subdued start for European shares as well, forecasting Britain's FTSE .FTSE, Germany's DAX .GDAXI and France's CAC .FCHI would open a touch higher.

The Fed is expected to keep interest rates unchanged this week and may struggle to convince skeptical investors it can tighten monetary policy before the end of the year in the face of U.S. and global economic headwinds.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan declined 0.9 percent.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng .HSI fell 0.6 percent, South Korea's Kospi .KS11 dropped 0.4 percent and Shanghai stocks .SSEC lost 0.7 percent.

Finance and insurance stocks again weighed on Chinese indexes, as investors continued to digest weak bank earnings and deposit rate liberalization. China stocks, however, for now shrugged off U.S.-China tensions over naval patrols in the South China Sea.

Tokyo's Nikkei .N225 bucked the trend and rose 0.6 percent on bargain hunting following the previous day's fall.

On Wall Street, the Dow .DJI fell 0.2 percent and the S&P 500 .SPX retreated 0.3 percent.

Closely watched earnings from Apple Inc (AAPL.O) late on Tuesday painted a rosy picture for the new iPhones, but a quarterly slowdown of overall sales in China cast doubt on the robustness of Apple's legendary profitability.

Apple shares initially rose after hours as it beat sales and profit forecasts, but they gave up those gains later as concerns crept in.

In currencies, the Australian dollar dropped to a 3-week low after soft Australian inflation data paved the way for a further interest rate cut, possibly as soon as the central bank's Nov. 3 policy meeting.

"You have to say data like this coupled with what the banks have done recently with the tightening up in conditions must increase the risk of a move before year end," said Su-Lin Ong, a senior economist at RBC Capital Markets. She was referring to Australia's major banks raising their variable mortgage rates to offset more stringent regulatory capital requirements.

The U.S. dollar moved in narrow range against the yen and euro as traders awaited the Fed's statement at 1800 GMT.

"No one expects the Federal Reserve to hike on Wednesday and we would not be surprised if they refrained from providing any clear signal about their intention to raise interest rates before the end of the year," wrote Kathy Lien, director of FX strategy for BK Asset Management.

The focus fell on the Fed's stance after the European Central Bank opened the door last week for more easing and China cut rates and banks' reserve requirements.

"While it can be argued that stimulus abroad is good for U.S. markets and makes it easier for the Fed to raise interest rates in December, the reasons why these central banks are easing and the consequences for the dollar could also deter them from tightening," said BK Asset Management's Lien. The dollar was steady at 120.45 yen JPY= while the euro inched down 0.1 percent to $1.1034 EUR.

Commodity currencies like the Canadian dollar were hit by a slide in crude oil prices. The dollar was steady at C$1.3275 CAD=D4 after surging 0.9 percent overnight.

The Australian dollar struggled near a 3-week low of $0.7112 AUD=D4, having lost about 1 percent on the day.

U.S. crude oil CLc1 edged up to $43.24 a barrel after sliding 1.7 percent overnight to a two-month low, ahead of official inventories data later in the session that are expected to confirm a persistent supply glut do***ng the market.

Brent crude LCOc1 was little changed at $46.81 a barrel following a 1.5 percent decline overnight to a mid-September low.

Global Stocks Down as China Leaders Meet, Fed Reviews Policy

Global stock markets were lower Tuesday as investors awaited monetary policy announcements from central banks and the outcome of China's economic planning meeting.

KEEPING SCORE: Europe got off to a weak start with Britain's FTSE 100 down 0.4 percent to 6,393.06. Germany's DAX shed 0.4 percent to 10,754.85 and France's CAC 40 dropped 0.6 percent to 4,868.16. Futures showed that Wall Street was set for a sluggish start. Dow futures and S&P 500 futures both slipped 0.2 percent.

CENTRAL BANKS: Central bankers in some of the world's biggest economies are convening this week to discuss key rates and stimulus actions. The U.S. Federal Reserve begins its two-day meeting later on Tuesday amid low expectations for a rate increase as U.S. inflation is subdued and recent data suggests the economic recovery remains uneven. Bank of Japan policymakers are meeting on Friday and are expected to leave the door open to additional monetary stimulus.

THE QUOTE: "No one expects the Fed to budge on policy tomorrow," analysts at DBS Bank in Singapore said in a market commentary. Third-quarter U.S. growth data slated for release on Thursday could determine whether the central bank "dares move" at its final meeting for 2015 in December, DBS said.

CHINA MEETING: Chinese leaders began meeting Monday to set goals for the world's second-largest economy for the next five years. The Communist Party leaders are expected to redouble their efforts to shift China's reliance on trade and investment to more self-sustaining growth driven by domestic consumption. Whether China's growth target will be lowered is a point of hot debate, Mizuho Bank said in a daily commentary, following Chinese Premier Li Keqiang's remark that communist leaders will accept growth below their official target of "about 7 percent." On Friday, Beijing cut interest rates for a sixth time since November.

ASIA'S DAY: Asian markets closed mostly lower but Chinese stocks turned positive. Nikkei 225 fell 0.9 percent to 18,777.04 and South Korea's Kospi slipped 0.2 percent to 2,044.65. Hong Kong's Hang Seng added 0.1 percent to 23,142.73 and the Shanghai Composite Index in mainland China rose 0.1 percent to 3,434.34. Stocks in Taiwan and Australia were lower.

ENERGY: Benchmark U.S. crude was down 48 cents to $43.50 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract lost 62 cents, or 1.4 percent, to close at $43.98 a barrel in New York on Monday. Brent Crude, which is used to price international oils, fell 34 cents to $47.20 a barrel in London.

CURRENCIES: The dollar fell to 120.48 yen from 121.06 yen in the previous trading session. The euro weakened to $1.1044 from $1.1057.