LONDON: Stock markets and oil prices retreated Monday, while the pound faltered on the eve of the UK parliament's crucial vote on Brexit.
Traders were digesting a menu of high risks to the global economy, notably the China-US trade row, signs of weakness in the Chinese and US economies, Brexit and volatile oil prices.
"It's shaping up to be another tough week in financial markets," noted Craig Erlam, senior market analyst at Oanda trading group.
"Friday's (US) jobs report did little to stop the bleeding, with jobs growth in November coming in well short of expectations," he added.
In London, official data Monday showed that Britain's Brexit-facing economy experienced sluggish growth in October on a stalling car sector.
The data came as British Prime Minister Theresa May begins a final push to persuade parliament to back her Brexit deal Tuesday and after the European Court of Justice ruled Britain was free to halt withdrawal from the bloc unilaterally.
Elsewhere Monday, oil prices slid on profit-taking, having surged ahead of the weekend as OPEC and other key crude producers including Russia agreed to cut output by 1.2 million barrels a day.
Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said the agreement "should help the market reach a balance" after prices plunged by about a third from their four-year highs seen at the start of October.
"Oil's future rests on trade wars and weakening data, and whether either or both of these factors will start to ease in coming months, boosting demand expectations," noted Chris Beauchamp, chief market analyst at IG.
In Asia, China on Monday ratcheted up its protest over the arrest of an executive of telecom giant Huawei on a US warrant in Canada, calling reports of her treatment "inhumane" as she seeks her release on bail for health reasons.
China's latest tirade over the case came as Meng Wanzhou, the daughter of the company's founder, faces a Canadian court's decision on bail later Monday in Vancouver.
Meng's arrest on December 1 has infuriated Beijing, rocking stock markets and raising tensions amid a truce in the US-China trade war.
US President Donald Trump and Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping agreed at the G20 this month to a 90-day ceasefire in the multi-billion-dollar tariffs row that will allow officials to find a resolution. A threatened hike in levies on Chinese imports will be imposed if no agreement is reached.
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