I. Yesterday's News
1. U.S. President Donald Trump formally withdrew the United States from the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal on Monday, distancing America from its Asian allies. Trump said he would seek one-on-one trade deals with countries that would allow the United States to quickly terminate them in 30 days "if somebody misbehaves."

2. Jeffrey Lacker, the hawkish president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond, said on Monday he is worried inflation could surge unless the U.S. central bank raises interest rates faster than his fellow policymakers anticipate. "Right now I think we are at risk of getting behind the curve, so lately I've been an advocate of pushing rates up a little more aggressively than my colleagues," Lacker said. Lacker, who plans to retire on Oct. 1, has for the last several years argued that the Fed should raise rates to prevent a spike in inflation even though it has lingered well below the central bank's 2 percent target for most of that period.

3. US Treasury Secretary nominee Steven Mnuchin has told senators he would work to combat currency manipulation but would not give a clear answer on whether he views China as manipulating its yuan, according to a Senate Finance Committee document seen by Reuters. In written answers to supplemental questions from the committee following his confirmation hearing last week, Mr Mnuchin did not close the door to a potential Treasury declaration of China as a currency manipulator.

4. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said on Monday he believed U S President Donald Trump understood the value of free trade and that he would keep pitching a multinational trade pact that Trump's administration has vowed to exit. "I believe President Trump understands the importance of free and fair trade, so I'd like to pursue his understanding on the strategic and economic importance of the TPP (Trans-Pacific Partnership) trade pact," Abe told a session of Parliament's lower house. Abe also said he wanted to strengthen the U S-Japan security alliance, based on mutual trust with Trump.

5. Britain's government on Monday unveiled a new interventionist approach to  reinvigorate industrial production and stimulate investment in technology and R&D, and to rebalance its heavily services-based economy for the post-Brexit era. Prime Minister Theresa May's "Modern Industrial Strategy" demands closer collaboration in key industries in exchange for government support in supervision, trade and research.

II. Market Overview
FX
The dollar slumped to a seven-week low against a currency basket on Monday, weighed by concerns about the early days of U.S. President Donald Trump's administration that have so far been marred by protests, a protectionist inauguration speech, and angry comments on Twitter. The safe-haven yen has been the main beneficiary of U.S. political uncertainty, rising for a second straight session against the dollar. The yen has gained nearly 3 percent since the start of the year. In late trading, the dollar index, which measures the greenback against six major rivals, fell 0.6 percent to 100.16 led by 1.4 percent drop versus the yen to 113.01 yen. The dollar's fall against the yen was the largest in more than two weeks. It climbed as high as $1.2506, its strongest level against the dollar since Dec. 16. The euro was up 0.5 percent at $1.0751, posting its seventh daily rise in the last nine.

Precious Metals
Gold rose to a two-month high on Monday, as unease over the economic policies of U.S. President Donald Trump pushed investors towards safer assets while the dollar and U.S. bond yields fell. Spot gold was up at $1,217.38 an ounce. U.S. gold futures settled up 0.9 percent at $1,215.6 per ounce.

Commodities
1.Crude Oil
Oil prices fell 1 percent on Monday as signs of a strong recovery in U.S. drilling largely overshadowed news that OPEC and non-OPEC producers were on track to meet output reduction goals. Brent crude settled down 26 cents, or 0.5 percent, at $55.23 a barrel. U.S. crude futures closed the session at $52.75 a barrel, down 0.9 percent, or 47 cents.

2.Base Metals
Copper rose on Monday, buoyed by dollar weakness and hopes that U.S. President Donald Trump's incoming administration would make good on a pledge to boost infrastructure spending in the world's largest economy. Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange closed up 0.8 percent at $5,795 a tonne. Nickel ended the day up 0.2 percent at $9,715 a tonne. Zinc closed up 0.8 percent at $2,790 a tonne, while battery material lead ended 2.1 percent higher at $2,357 a tonne. LME aluminium ended the day up 0.2 percent at $1,849.50 a tonne, having earlier hit its highest since May 2015 at $1,873. Tin closed 0.4 percent lower at $20,125 a tonne.

U.S. Treasuries
U.S. Treasury yields slipped on Monday with benchmark yields posting their biggest one-day drop in more than two weeks as investor jitters over President Donald Trump's tough stance on trade spurred safe-haven demand for bonds. The yield on benchmark 10-year Treasury notes was down 6 basis points at 2.403 percent, marking its steepest single-day drop since Jan. 5, according to Reuters data. Thirty-year yields declined 6 basis points to 2.985 percent, while two-year yield decreased 5 basis points to 1.147 percent.

Stock Market
1. U.S. Equities
U.S. stocks edged lower on Monday as early moves by President Donald Trump highlighting a protectionist stance on trade gave investors cause to rethink the post-election rally. In his latest executive order, Trump signed to formally withdraw the United States from the 12-nation Trans-Pacific partnership trade deal. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 27.4 points, or 0.14 percent, to 19,799.85, the S&P 500 lost 6.11 points, or 0.27 percent, to 2,265.2 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 2.39 points, or 0.04 percent, to 5,552.943.

2. Hong Kong Equities
Hong Kong stocks closed marginally higher on Monday, thanks to support from a solid resource sector. Both the benchmark Hang Seng index and the Hong Kong China Enterprises Index were up 0.1 percent at the close, to 22,898.52 points and 9,726.82 points respectively.