U.S. stocks opened mostly flat and the U.S. dollar rose as investors awaited fresh catalysts after digesting solid American economic data on Friday and inconclusive trade talks in Washington. U.S. Treasury yields pushed higher.

The Dow, S&P 500 and Nasdaq were little changed after U.S. President Donald Trump over the weekend told CBS that trade talks with Beijing are “doing very well” and sounded confident an agreement with North Korea was on the horizon. Carmakers were the biggest loser as the Stoxx Europe 600 Index edged lower. Brent crude erased gains after earlier touching an intraday high for 2019. In Asia, trading was subdued as much of the region headed into Lunar New Year holidays.

After a busy few days that included relatively dovish Federal Reserve comments and U.S.-China trade talks in Washington, there’s a notable lack of drivers for markets on Monday, particularly in Asia, where China is off and other markets will be shut for days. Investors may again look for direction from a corporate earnings season that’s been mixed so far.

Elsewhere, Venezuela’s defaulted 2027 bonds fell as Spain, Germany and the U.K. led a host of European countries in recognizing National Assembly leader Juan Guaido as the country’s interim president on Monday. The country’s outlook is being followed by oil traders given the country’s share of global exports. Emerging-market currencies and shares fell.

 

These are the main moves in markets:

STOCKS

The S&P 500 Index fell about 0.1 per cent as of 9:32 a.m. ET, while the Nasdaq Composite Index gained 0.1 per cent and the Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 0.1 per cent. The Stoxx Europe 600 declined 0.1 per cent, the first drop in five trading sessions. The U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index rose 0.2 per cent, the fifth consecutive daily increase. Germany’s DAX Index dropped 0.3 per cent. The MSCI Emerging Market Index eased 0.4 per cent.

CURRENCIES

The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index gained 0.3 per cent, the third straight daily increase. The euro eased 0.2 percent to US$1.1437. The British pound fell 0.3 per cent to US$1.3045. The Japanese yen weakened 0.5 per cent to 110.05 per U.S. dollar.

BONDS

The yield on U.S. 10-year Treasuries climbed three basis points to 2.71 per cent. Germany’s 10-year yield rose one basis point to 0.17 per cent. Britain’s 10-year yield rose one basis point to 1.26 per cent.

COMMODITIES

West Texas Intermediate fell two per cent to US$54.16 a barrel. Gold fell 0.6 per cent to US$1,309 an ounce.