Reuters

International Monetary Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde said on Tuesday the global economy was showing broad-based growth, but the landscape was shifting with heightened risks of trade disputes, monetary policy normalization and technological change.

Sterling gave up all its earlier gains and was flat on the day thanks to a broad rebound in the dollar though hawkish comments from a central bank official boosted bets that interest rates may rise as early as May.

Oil slipped on Monday but still held close to its highest since early February, supported by comments from Saudi Arabia that it would continue to curb shipments in line with the OPEC-led effort to cut global supplies.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel urged her Christian Democrats (CDU) on Monday to approve a coalition deal with the Social Democrats (SPD), a step that would bring her closer to a fourth term.

European shares traded higher on Monday morning with gains across bourses and sectors as focus gradually shifts from the earnings season to monetary policy and politics with Italy’s election on Sunday.

The dollar slipped on Monday, losing some of its recent momentum as U.S. bond yields sagged, although moves were tempered by caution ahead of Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell’s first congressional testimony.

Gold prices edged up on Monday after declining more than 1 percent last week, buoyed by a weaker U.S. dollar as investors waited for possible clues on the pace of U.S. monetary tightening.

The European Central Bank has bought enough bonds so that it could retreat from further purchases without risking an unwarranted rise in longer-dated bond yields, ECB executive board member Benoit Coeure said on Friday.

Federal Reserve policymakers fretted on Friday that they could face the next U.S. recession with virtually the same arsenal of policies used in the last downturn and, with interest rates still relatively low, those will not pack the same punch.

Canada’s annual inflation rate cooled in January from a year earlier as consumers paid less for gasoline and vehicles, but firmer underlying prices were seen keeping the central bank on track to raise interest rates again later this year.