Markets regained their breath again in a relative calm - albeit temporarily - at the start of trading this week. The dollar index continued to fall from multi-year highs, supporting commodity prices.

- This comes ahead of next Thursday's ECB meeting, during which interest rates are expected to be raised by 25 basis points.

- Dollar movements have become the main fuel for market movements. The US dollar began the trading week weaker than the previous week, losing strength to most rival currencies. Wall Street was unable to retain its early gains and eventually headed to the red zone. Oil prices jumped by more than $5 on Monday, supported by a weak dollar and expectations that the Federal Reserve will not raise interest rates by a full percentage point during its next anti-inflation meeting.

Equities:

- In Wall Street, US indices fell sharply at the end of the session as the earnings season began following Apple's announcement of plans to slow hiring and reduce spending next year in preparation for a possible recession.

- Apple shares closed down 2.1%. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq each fell about 0.8%, while the Dow Jones fell by more than 180 points, or 0.6%.

- More than 70 companies are scheduled to release their results this week. Big tech profits, starting with Netflix after the market closes on Tuesday, Tesla after the bell on Wednesday, and Twitter before trading begins on Friday, are expected to flow. Last weekend saw a sharp rise as Wall Street tried to shake off losses from a turbulent week due to shocking Consumer Price Index data for June.

Currency Market:

- Commodity-related currencies held most of their early gains, with the Australian dollar trading against the US dollar at 0.6815 and the US dollar against the Canadian dollar at 1.2965.

- Finally, the Japanese yen and the Swiss franc, which are considered safe havens, recorded modest gains against the US dollar.
 
- The weaker dollar helped the pound against the US dollar reach 1.2039 in a bid to recover its gains.

Commodities: Gold

- The precious metal is trying to regain strength as the US dollar index falls.

- Gold ended trading at $1,709.13 an ounce, but remains under strong negative pressure and continued bleeding points amid expectations that the US Federal Reserve will raise interest rates by 75 basis points this month.

Commodities: Oil

- Oil prices rose again, supported by US dollar declines and increased demand following the record of Brent and U.S. WTI, their biggest weekly losses in nearly a month last week.

- Benchmark Brent crude for September delivery ended the trading session up $5.11, or 5.1%, to settle at $106.27 a barrel, after rising 2.1% on Friday.

- Benchmark U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude for August delivery rose $5.01, or 5.1%, to close at $102.60 a barrel after registering a 1.9% increase in the previous session.

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