Foreign Markets

Asian stocks were mixed in thin holiday trade on Monday, with markets in Hong Kong, Australia and New Zealand shut due to the Easter holiday.

The U.S. dollar tumbled after U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to fire Fed Chair Powell over rate cuts and released an eight-point list targeting what he calls non-tariff cheating by foreign nations -- a warning he said could impact diplomatic and trade ties with the United States.

White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett said on Friday that the president and his team are examining the legal feasibility of removing Powell and that had acted politically to benefit Democrats.

Meanwhile, U.S.-China relations continued to sour, with China's Commerce Ministry saying it would retaliate against nations cooperating with the USA's tariff wars.

Oil prices fell over 1 percent in Asian trade on demand concerns.

Gold continued its upward trend as escalating global trade tensions and a weaker dollar boosted demand for the precious metal.

China's Shanghai Composite index rose 0.45 percent to 3,291.43 as the People's Bank of China expectedly kept its loan prime rates unchanged, continuing its trend from last year.

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