Reuters

Oil prices extended gains to hit their highest level in nearly two weeks on Monday, buoyed as Asian shares joined a global recovery in equity markets and by worries over tensions in the Middle East.

Oil prices edged up on Friday as a rebound in the global equities market and a weak dollar supported crude’s recovery from last week’s slide.

Gold prices dipped on Friday, but still hovered near a three-week high, as the U.S. dollar index bounced from a three-year low and investors worried that U.S. inflation could heat up.

The dollar limped back from a three-year low against a basket of currencies on Friday but still marked its fifth weekly loss out of seven weeks this year, driving the euro up to its highest level since December 2014.

Japan’s government on Friday reappointed Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda for another term and chose an advocate of bolder monetary easing as one of his deputies, a potent signal to financial markets that the bank will be in no rush to turn off its massive stimulus program.

The dollar slipped to a three-year low against a basket of currencies on Friday, headed for its biggest weekly loss in two years, as bearish factors offset support the U.S. currency could take from rising Treasury yields.

Japan’s two cryptocurrency industry groups are planning to merge to form a self-regulating body, seeking to better safeguard investors after last month’s $530 million heist of digital money, sources involved in the negotiations said.

U.S. producer prices accelerated in January, boosted by strong gains in the cost of gasoline and healthcare, offering more evidence that inflation pressures were building up.

Sterling rose against the dollar on Thursday, cementing gains on the back of a broadly weakened dollar, with traders eyeing earnings data next week to give the pound fresh momentum.

A recovery rally in European stocks gathered pace for a second day on Thursday after investors brushed off a spike in U.S. inflation, turning their focus back to company earnings from heavy hitters including Europe’s largest aerospace firm, Airbus.