Investing.com - Here are the top five things you need to know in financial markets on Monday, May 22:
1. Oil extends rally as investors wait for OPEC meeting
Oil prices were higher on Monday, touching the strongest level in around a month on growing expectations that members of Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries will agree to extend production cuts when they meet later this week.
U.S. crude was at $51.04 a barrel by 5:45AM ET (09:45GMT), up 37 cents, or around 0.7%. The U.S. benchmark rose to an overnight high of $51.26, a level not seen since April 21.
Meanwhile, Brent gained 37 cents to $53.98, after climbing to its highest since April 19 at $54.17 earlier.
Most market analysts expect the oil cartel to extend its current output cut agreement for a further nine months until March 2018, instead of six months as previously expected. There is also talk that OPEC is looking at the option of deepening current production cuts, but it is not clear whether there would be support for that.
2. Global stocks mostly higher as markets recover poise
Global stock markets were higher on Monday, continuing their recovery from a patch of turbulence, as last week’s global worries about the U.S. political landscape eased.
Most Asian indexes closed in positive territory, with Japan's Nikkei ending up around 0.4%, while China's Shanghai Composite shed about 0.5%.
In Europe, stocks across the continent inched higher, with Germany's DAX rising 0.1% in mid-morning trade, while London's FTSE 100 gained 0.4%.
On Wall Street, the blue-chip Dow futures pointed to an increase of 8 points, or less than 0.1% at the open, the S&P 500 futures ticked up 1 point, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 futures advanced 4 points.
3. Dollar creeps up off 6-month lows
The dollar edged back from a six-month trough against a basket of the other major currencies on Monday amid relief that that the political turmoil engulfing the Trump administration hasn’t intensified.
With U.S. President Donald Trump on a trip to the Middle East, the steady stream of revelations surrounding the FBI’s investigation into alleged Russian interference in November’s presidential election has receded.
The dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of six major rivals, was up roughly 0.2% at 97.19 in New York morning trade. It fell to a six-month low of 96.96 on Friday, having given up all the gains it had made following the election in November.
4. British pound slides as U.K. threatens to quit Brexit talks
The British pound slumped on Monday, after the U.K. hardened its Brexit rhetoric and polls showed support slipping for Prime Minister Theresa May in June elections.
Sterling was changing hands at 1.2984 against the dollar, down 0.4% and off Friday’s almost seven-month peak of 1.3039 (GBP/USD).
Brexit minister David Davis said on Sunday that Britain is prepared to walk away from divorce talks with the European Union without a deal if the bill for exiting the bloc exceeds 100 billion euros.
News that the Conservative Party’s lead over the Labour Party has narrowed in polls in the runup to the June 8 general election, with the gap now in single digits, further weighed.
5. Bitcoin tops $2,100 for first time
Bitcoin cleared the $2,100-level for the first time on Monday to hit a fresh record high, as a monster rally continues amid bullish noises around the future of the cryptocurrency.
Prices rose to a daily peak of $2,105.00 on the New York-based itBit exchange at one point, its highest on record.
Other big exchanges such as Poloniex, BTC-e, Bitfinex, Kraken and BitStamp also showed the cryptocurrency at around the $2,100-level early Monday.
Since the start of the year, the price of bitcoin has soared 116%, taking the total value of the cryptocurrency in circulation to more than $37.5 billion.