Following some hesitation in Asia, European stocks opened with solid gains and held in positive territory ahead of the opening bell on Wall Street. Risk-on tone dominated the markets at the start of the week after China said it was taking off some internal travel restrictions.
Also, on the positive side, US President Biden said earlier on Monday that he is considering lifting some trade tariffs on China. On the other hand, he spoke resolutely about a US military reaction to a China invasion of Taiwan. So far, however, investors shrug off rising geopolitical tensions on this front. Of note, back in October, Biden has said that Washington would protect Taiwan from a Chinese attack.
Meanwhile, the US dollar keeps bleeding, holding slightly above the 102.00 figure as the selling pressure surrounding the safe-haven currency persists since last week. The USD index failed to cling to 103.00 ahead of the weekend, giving up gains across the market ahead of the FOMC meeting minutes due on Wednesday. Should the minutes fail to deliver extra hawkishness towards tightening plans, the greenback will face more downside pressure in the days ahead.
Elsewhere, cryptocurrencies hold steady along with traditional financial markets. Bitcoin preserves a modest upside bias, challenging the $30,000 psychological level, followed by a slightly descending 20-DMA, currently around $31,500.
However, the BTC/USD pair is unlikely to make a decisive break above this barrier in the immediate term as traders stay cautious, focusing on developments in equity markets. In other words, risk sentiment could deteriorate again after a short-lived bounce, thus pushing the coin lower along with stocks.