Reuters

Oil prices dropped off three-year highs on Tuesday as traders booked profits but healthy demand underpinned prices near $70 per barrel, a level not seen since the market slump in 2014.

The euro held close to a three-year high against the dollar on Tuesday, as the common currency recovered from earlier losses tied to doubts that the European Central Bank would back away from its pledge to keep buying bonds at next week’s meeting.

The European Central Bank is unlikely to ditch a pledge to keep buying bonds at next week’s meeting as rate setters need more time to assess the outlook for the economy and the euro, three sources close to the matter said.

A senior Chinese central banker says authorities should ban centralized trading of virtual currencies as well as individuals and businesses that provide related services, an internal memo from a government meeting seen by Reuters showed.

Japanese government bond prices were steady to slightly firmer on Tuesday, after an auction of 2.2 trillion yen ($19.8 billion) five-year government bonds attracted strong demand.

Carillion collapsed on Monday when its banks pulled the plug, triggering Britain’s biggest corporate failure in a decade and forcing the government to step in.

The Canadian dollar strengthened to a nearly one-week high against its U.S. counterpart on Monday as the greenback broadly fell and investors braced for a potential interest rate increase by the Bank of Canada this week.

The Canadian dollar strengthened to a nearly one-week high against its U.S. counterpart on Monday as the greenback broadly fell and investors braced for a potential interest rate increase by the Bank of Canada this week.

Sterling edged higher on Monday after posting its biggest jump in four months on Friday on a media report that the Netherlands and Spain were open to a deal for Britain to remain as close as possible to the trading bloc crushed short positions.

Oil hovered below a three-year high near $70 a barrel on Monday on signs that production cuts by OPEC and Russia are tightening supplies, but analysts warned of “red flags” due to surging U.S. production.