MARKET WRAPS
Stocks:
European shares were struggling for direction Monday while oil prices fell as investors awaited details on expected U.S. sanctions on Iran.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is set to hold a press conference at 6 p.m. GMT when he is expected to announce details about the new economic sanctions.
"The move could further tighten global oil supplies, with Iranian exports already disrupted and offers to China reduced," Saxo Bank said.
Global government bond yields also fell Monday, helped by declining oil prices and as investors anticipated further measures from the U.S. Treasury were possible to tame high yields.
"Global bond markets remain vulnerable with yields across the curves testing multi-year highs," Commerzbank said.
Meanwhile, gold prices climbed to their highest level in more than three months while tech stocks weakened following equity and bond issues from the sector in Asia. Investors are now watching for Nvidia earnings on Wednesday.
Looking ahead, regional inflation and sentiment data are due later this week, including flash-estimate French and Spanish CPI inflation data for August on Friday. The data will be closely watched ahead of the European Central Bank's next rate-setting meeting on Sept. 10.
U.S. Markets:
Stock futures were down Monday ahead of the Federal Reserve's annual conference in Jackson Hole.
Federal Reserve Chairman Kevin Warsh's speech at the symposium will be the key event for investors as they continue to seek clarity on whether and when U.S. interest rates might rise.
Forex:
The dollar edged higher as U.S.-Iran tensions persisted. The greenback could fall if several countries with economic ties to Iran are affected by sanctions, Commerzbank said.
Bonds:
Eurozone government bond yields fell in opening trade as global markets started the week with relief, helped by a slight decline in oil prices.
Treasury yields declined in early trade, but nonetheless remained at elevated levels as oil prices also moved lower. The 10-year Bund yield has already reached Societe Generale's fourth-quarter target of 3.25%, but this isn't the end of the selloff, it said.
J.P. Morgan said the U.S. Treasury's decision last week to increase buybacks of long-end securities, alongside other recent Treasury actions, is a signal that the U.S. Treasury is uncomfortable with current yield levels.
Energy:
In early European trading, Brent crude was down 1.7%, while WTI futures slid 2.1%.
Metals:
Gold prices climbed above $4,700 a troy ounce as investors awaited the release of key U.S. inflation data and Warsh's speech at the Jackson Hole symposium.
Gold chart
Comex gold futures may extend their uptrend, RHB Retail Research said. The futures closed Friday with a long bullish candlestick pattern on the daily chart.
Copper
Copper prices traded above $14,200 a metric ton as a weaker dollar last week boosted investor appetite, while markets keep a close eye on shifts in global inventories. "A surge in deliveries into LME warehouses helped ease the market's most acute tightness," ANZ said.
Iron ore
Iron ore prices were higher in early trade, but the gains look increasingly difficult to sustain as the market moves from a production-capacity buildout into a period of supply release, Huatai Futures said.
EMEA HEADLINES
Europe Chastised Trump's Climate Rollback. Now It's Delaying Its Own Green Goals.
When President Trump shredded U.S. climate policies last year, much of the Western world chastised him for ignoring climate change. Now, Europe, the U.K. and Canada are walking back their own environmental regulations.
The European Union has proposed to relax its landmark carbon-pricing system, and allow automakers to sell gasoline-burning cars for longer. The U.K. appears poised to allow new oil production in the North Sea-after banning exploratory drilling last year-and is reviewing targets for sales of electric vehicles. Canada dismantled an unpopular carbon tax and is backing new oil-and-gas infrastructure.
Iran's Top Politicians Urge an End to the War
DUBAI-Iran's top politicians said the country needs to focus on ending the war and shoring up its crippled economy, pushing back publicly against hardliners who are taking a more defiant approach in the six-month-old conflict.
The comments by Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and parliamentary speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf come as the diplomatic track remains stalled and the Trump administration has shifted to a policy of ratcheting up economic pressure via sanctions and the naval blockade of Iran's ports.
Russia Tests Readiness for New Round of Military Mobilization
Last month Russian military officers flew from St. Petersburg to the country's Kaliningrad exclave nestled between two NATO countries and the Baltic Sea. There the officers oversaw readiness planning and procedures for a mobilization of the region's residents, with details on how to house, feed and arm them, said Western intelligence officials.
The planning exercise in Kaliningrad is just one of many being carried out nationwide, said the officials, in case the call is made.
Germany's Far Right Has a New Enemy: The 100-Year-Old Bauhaus
DESSAU, Germany-If these were normal times, Barbara Steiner would be working on the centennial celebrations for the Bauhaus, the school of art and design that opened in this small German town before the Nazis shut it down and inadvertently cemented it as the cradle of modernism.
Instead, the Austrian-born director of the Bauhaus Dessau Foundation is battling a new culture war that feels eerily reminiscent of its fight against fascism a century ago.
GLOBAL NEWS
Global Bond Yields Fall on Declining Oil, Prospects of Further Treasury Steps to Tackle Recent Highs
Global government bond yields fell Monday, helped by declining oil prices and as investors anticipate that further measures from the U.S. Treasury are possible to tame high yields.
The U.S. Treasury last week doubled the volume of long-end debt buybacks after yields rose to multiyear highs. On Monday, a slight decline in global bond yields has been helped by lower oil prices even as the prospect of a peace deal in the Middle East remains elusive, while traffic via the Strait of Hormuz stays disrupted.
Wall Street Is Counting on Nvidia to Keep the AI Party Going
Chip makers are fighting to assure investors that the artificial-intelligence boom is racing forward. Wall Street might not believe it until Nvidia's Jensen Huang says so.
When Huang steps up to the mic for his company's earnings call Wednesday, he will have the world's attention. What he says about Nvidia's present will preview the future of AI, dictate the path forward for a tech-crazed stock market and influence an American economy increasingly tethered to hopes that the boom won't go bust.
Canada's Carney Puts His 'No Deal Is Better Than a Bad Deal' Doctrine to the Test
TORONTO-Over the past 17 months, as President Trump has freighted Canada's economy with several rounds of punishing tariffs, Prime Minister Mark Carney has often repeated the guiding maxim for his negotiations with the U.S.: No deal is better than a bad one.
Now he is putting that rule to the test.
Inside Indonesia's Push to Boost Commodity Market Credibility
When Indonesia first announced plans to integrate processes for the exports of key resources, it stoked concerns about state intervention that would disrupt the flow of commodities like coal and palm oil.
Luke Mahony, the man tasked with overseeing tens of billions of dollars in exports, says the aim is the exact opposite of what some had feared.
Canada's Carney Puts His 'No Deal Is Better Than a Bad Deal' Doctrine to the Test
TORONTO-Over the past 17 months, as President Trump has freighted Canada's economy with several rounds of punishing tariffs, Prime Minister Mark Carney has often repeated the guiding maxim for his negotiations with the U.S.: No deal is better than a bad one.
Now he is putting that rule to the test.
Iran's Top Politicians Urge an End to the War
DUBAI-Iran's top politicians said the country needs to focus on ending the war and shoring up its crippled economy, pushing back publicly against hardliners who are taking a more defiant approach in the six-month-old conflict.
The comments by Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and parliamentary speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf come as the diplomatic track remains stalled and the Trump administration has shifted to a policy of ratcheting up economic pressure via sanctions and the naval blockade of Iran's ports.
Why Democrats Still Have a Shot at Winning the Senate
Democrats fighting to win back the Senate from the Republicans spent their summer sweating out a last-minute candidate switch in Maine and the emergence of an antiestablishment progressive in swing-state Michigan.
The two races remain central to Democrats' hopes of winning back Senate control in the November elections as they try to navigate a narrow pathway to the majority. But even as flipping Maine and retaining Michigan look challenging, Democrats have made headway in defending Georgia, capturing North Carolina and competing in redder states including Alaska, Ohio, Iowa and Texas.
Write to priscila.barrera@wsj.com