Investors eyed tumbling oil prices, U.S. trade policy and Taiwan’s surging dollar on Monday, and looked ahead to expected central bank decisions this week. Early trading was muted overall with public holidays in some global markets.

Wall Street and TSX futures were in the red in the early morning.

Oil prices tumbled over 1 per cent on Monday after news of an OPEC+ agreement to accelerate oil production increases.

In Canada, investors are getting results from energy companies Parkland Corp., Topaz Energy Corp., and Baytex Energy Corp.; real estate firms RioCan REIT and CT REIT; as well as TMX Group Ltd. and Ero Copper Corp.

On Wall Street, markets are watching earnings from Palantir Technologies Inc. and auto maker Ford Motor Co.

Market focus turned to this week’s meeting of the U.S. Federal Reserve, which is expected to keep interest rates steady, and to a Bank of England meeting. Investors are waiting to see how central banks assess growth and inflation outlook amid volatile U.S. tariff policies.

After weeks of tension, U.S. President Donald Trump said on Sunday he would not remove Jerome Powell as Federal Reserve Chair before his term ends in May 2026 while describing the central banker as “a total stiff” and repeating calls for the Fed to lower interest rates.

“The main event is the Fed and what is happening in politics has not been forgotten,” Nordea’s chief market strategist Jan von Gerich.

Optimism around a potential de-escalation of trade tensions between the U.S. and China has boosted markets in recent days, with European shares trading just below levels seen before Trump’s April 2 major tariff announcement roiled markets.

Investors also reacted to new 100-per-cent U.S. tariffs on foreign-produced movies announced by Mr. Trump on Sunday, with little clarity on how the levies would be implemented.

Movie and television production companies that film overseas fell in premarket trading on the news, with Netflix down 3.3 per cent and Walt Disney and Warner Bros. Discovery off 1.5 per cent and 2.7 per cent, respectively.

Among other stocks, class B shares of Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway fell 2.1 per cent after the investor said he will step down as CEO of the conglomerate.

Global trading was subdued by public holidays in Japan, China and Britain.

The pan-European STOXX 600 was up a light 0.021 per cent in morning trading. Germany’s DAX was up 0.49 per cent and France’s CAC 40 was down 0.53 per cent.

In Asia, Taiwan’s currency took the spotlight on Monday, with the Taiwan dollar was poised for its biggest single-day gain against the U.S. dollar since the 1980s, rising to as high as 29.59 per U.S. dollar.

Its 3-per-cent surge on Monday stoked speculation of a revaluation of Asian currencies to win U.S. trade concessions and underscores a broader re-rating of the region’s economic prospects.

Taiwan’s office of trade negotiations said on Monday that tariff talks with the U.S. last week did not discuss the exchange rate and Taiwan’s central bank also did not take part in the talks.

Brent crude and U.S. West Texas crude futures fell after a weekend decision by OPEC+ to further speed up oil output hikes.

Brent crude futures dropped by 87 US cents, or 1.42 per cent, to US$60.42 a barrel, while West Texas Intermediate crude was at US$57.37 a barrel, down 92 US cents, or 1.58 per cent.

Both contracts touched their lowest since April 9, after OPEC+ agreed to accelerate oil production hikes for a second consecutive month, raising output in June by 411,000 barrels per day (bpd).

“The production increase, instigated by Saudi Arabia, is as much about challenging U.S. shale supply as it is to penalize members that have benefited from higher prices while flaunting their production limits,” said Saxo Bank analyst Ole Hansen.

“Adding barrels into an economic slowdown will weigh on prices until we have a clearer picture on the demand impact.”

In other commodities, spot gold rose 1.8 per cent to US$3,298.09 an ounce, after posting its worst week since February last week.

The Canadian dollar strengthened against its U.S. counterpart.

The day range on the loonie was 72.30 US cents to 72.54 US cents in early trading. The Canadian dollar was up about 3.3 per cent against the greenback over the past month.

The U.S. dollar index, which weighs the greenback against a group of currencies, lost 0.35 per cent to 99.68.

The euro gained 0.34 per cent to US$1.1338. The British pound gained 0.26 per cent to US$1.3306.

In bonds, the yield on the U.S. 10-year note was flat at 4.314 per cent ahead of the North American opening bell.

Japan, China and U.K. markets closed

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