Geopolitical issues to dictate trading mood

FOR much of last week, markets were in a state of flux as US-China trade tensions continued to be a main concern despite a largely positive earnings season for US-listed companies.

Jameel Ahmad, the global head of currency strategy and market research at FXTM, said: "With the continuous news flow dominating the financial markets around both geopolitical tensions, and also the prolonged trade war narrative, it is very much possible that investors will continue to adopt a guarded approach towards riskier assets over the week."

Pan Jingyi, a market strategist at IG Asia, added that aggravation from both political and economic concerns in Russia and Turkey, respectively, weighed on markets into the end of the week.