Australia’s employment growth slowed in October after a strong run, but the jobless rate has stayed low and underlying trends remain relatively healthy, suggesting there is little rush to cut interest rates.
The dollar retreated on Monday after surging for the past eight weeks. Bessent’s nomination as Treasury Secretary weighed on the dollar, amid some bets that he will be a voice of moderation in Trump’s administration.
Both contracts last week notched their biggest weekly gains since late September to reach their highest settlement levels since Nov. 7 after Russia fired a hypersonic missile at Ukraine in a warning to the United States and Britain following strikes by Kyiv on Russia using U.S. and British weapons.
Bitcoin’s price fell slightly on Monday after logging sharp losses over the weekend as a push to record highs above the $100,000 level stalled amid some doubts over what a Trump presidency will entail for crypto.
Crude oil for January delivery was down 0.93% or 0.66 to $70.58 a barrel. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Brent oil for delivery in February fell 0.87% or 0.65 to hit $73.98 a barrel, while the February Gold Futures contract fell 1.70% or 46.65 to trade at $2,690.55 a troy ounce.
