- In milestone, SpaceX 'catches' megarocket booster after test flight
- Iraq walks fine line with pro-Iran factions to avoid war
- Race four abandoned after New Zealand breeze into 3-0 lead in America's Cup
- West Indies win toss, put Sri Lanka in to bat in first T20
- Sudan rescuers say air strike killed 23 in Khartoum market
- Netanyahu tells UN to move Lebanon peacekeepers out of 'harm's way'
- Bangladeshi Hindus defy attack worries to celebrate festival
- Kiwis three up in America's Cup as Ineos pay for time penalty
- In a first, SpaceX 'catches' megarocket booster after test flight
- Dominant England crush Scotland at Women's T20 World Cup
- Dropped: The rise and fall of Pakistan batting maestro Babar Azam
- Israel fights Hezbollah on the ground, pounds Lebanon from the air
- Sabalenka outlasts local hero Zheng to win third Wuhan Open title
- Bangladeshi Hindus shrug off attack worries to celebrate festival
- Former Pakistan captain Azam dropped for second England Test
- 'Opportunist' Dupont dazzles on Toulouse return
- Australia replace injured Vlaeminck with Graham at Women's T20 World Cup
- Sinner wins Shanghai Masters to deny Djokovic 100th career title
- Ubisoft fears assassin's hit over falling sales
- Israel hits Lebanon from the air and fights Hezbollah on the ground
- China's Yin has 'goosebumps' as she romps to LPGA win in Shanghai
- Pakistan to re-use Multan pitch for second England Test
- Blair and King Charles hail Salmond's 'devotion' to Scotland
- Vietnam, China hold talks on calming South China Sea tensions
- SpaceX will try to 'catch' giant Starship rocket shortly before landing
- England captain Stokes in line for second Pakistan Test return
- Japan's former empress Michiko discharged after surgery: reports
- Japan's former empress Michiko discharged after surgey: reports
- Israel widens Lebanon strikes as troops fight Hezbollah along border
- Bowlers' graveyards: Pakistan's placid pitches under fresh fire
- 'Little Gregory' murder haunts France 40 years on
- Vietnam, China to expand rail links, cross-border payments
- Americans get their belief back as Pochettino makes his mark
- Vietnam, China to boost economic, defence cooperation
- Winning start for Pochettino's American adventure
- Tariffs, tax cuts, energy: What is in Trump's economic plan?
- Amazon wants to be everything to everyone
- US firms brace for more tariffs as election approaches
- Winning start for Poch's American adventure
- Morocco's tribeswomen see facial tattoo tradition fade
- Centre-left set to win as pro-Ukraine Lithuania votes
- Colombia guerilla group urges delegations not to attend COP16 in Cali
- Pakistan frets over security ahead of SCO summit
- Ronaldo scores 133rd Portugal goal in Nations League win over Poland
- 40 nations contributing to UN Lebanon peacekeeping force condemn 'attacks'
- Eight dead as heavy rain thrashes Brazil after long drought
- Jewish school in Canada hit by gunfire for second time
- Morocco crush Central African Republic, Guirassy scores hat-trick
- Dupont scores quickfire hat-trick on Toulouse Top 14 return
- Ronaldo scores in Portugal's Nations League win as Spain sink Denmark
Oil prices slump but stock markets largely steady
Oil prices prices slumped Monday on oversupply concerns while stock markets held largely steady despite dampened hopes of an early cut to US interest rates.
US and European oil futures fell around four percent after top producer Saudi Arabia cut the price of its crude, analysts said, weighing also on shares of energy majors.
"This all adds to concerns that the global market is drowning in oil that it can't use up quickly enough, even at attractive prices for consumers," said market analyst David Morrison at Trade Nation.
"No doubt the ongoing geopolitical tensions across the Middle East are preventing an even steeper sell-off," he added.
On Wall Street, both the S&P 500 and Nasdaq edged higher at the start of trading.
But the Dow dipped 0.4 percent, pulled down by shares in Boeing, which slumped almost nine percent after a mid-air emergency Friday in which a piece of fuselage came off a 737 MAX 9 jetliner as it flew over the US west coast.
Shares in Alaska Airlines, whose airliner suffered the blowout of the door panel, lost 5.9 percent.
European stocks were mixed in afternoon trading, with Frankfurt and Paris higher.
London dipped as energy shares were hit, with Shell down 2.4 percent as investors reacted to a mixed trading update ahead of the British oil major's annual earnings due next month.
A selloff in tech giants hammered Hong Kong, while Shanghai was also deep in retreat. Tokyo was closed for a holiday.
Keenly awaited non-farm payrolls data released on Friday showed the US economy remained resilient despite interest rates sitting at a two-decade high and inflation still well above the Federal Reserve's target.
The figures dealt another blow to expectations the central bank would start to cut borrowing costs in the next few months.
"Friday's US jobs report brought fresh concerns over the likeliness of the Fed to cut rates in March as markets have been widely anticipating, with a hot payrolls figure coming alongside a higher wage growth reading," said Joshua Mahony, chief market analyst at Scope Markets.
Attention now turns to the release this week of US consumer price figures.
"This report is destined to be a driving factor of the market's rate-cut expectations," said Patrick O'Hare at Briefing.com.
Equities ended 2023 with a surge as traders bet on a string of rate reductions this year thanks to falling inflation and a softening of the labour market.
But the release of minutes last week from the Fed's December meeting showed decision-makers were happy to keep rates elevated for some time to make sure they have prices under control.
Policymakers have signalled 75 basis points of cuts this year, but markets have priced in as much as 150 points, leaving investors open to disappointment.
"The first week of 2024 brought contradictory data signals," Barclays economists wrote in a client note.
"Solid US jobs growth, cautious Fed minutes and a still robust US economy raise doubts about markets' aggressive Fed rate-cut expectations," it added.
- Key figures around 1430 GMT -
West Texas Intermediate: DOWN 4.2 percent at $70.74 per barrel
Brent North Sea Crude: DOWN 3.7 percent at $75.82 per barrel
New York - Dow: DOWN 0.4 percent at 37,309.46 points
New York - S&P 500: UP less than 0.1 percent at 4,700.76
New York - Nasdaq: UP 0.3 percent at 14,567.45
London - FTSE 100: DOWN 0.1 percent at 7,680.90
Paris - CAC 40: UP 0.2 percent at 7,433.03
Frankfurt - DAX: UP 0.5 percent at 16,669.51
EURO STOXX 50: UP 0.3 percent at 4,475.07
Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: DOWN 1.9 percent at 16,224.45 (close)
Shanghai - Composite: DOWN 1.4 percent at 2,887.54 (close)
Tokyo - Nikkei 225: Closed for a holiday
Euro/dollar: UP at $1.0957 from $1.0942 on Friday
Dollar/yen: DOWN at 144.43 yen from 144.69 yen
Pound/dollar: UP at $1.2720 from $1.2718
Euro/pound: UP at 86.13 pence from 86.01 pence
burs-rl/lth
C.Garcia--AMWN