Yen edges up as traders push back Fed rate hike bets

Oil prices fluctuated between gains and losses, while U.S.-Iran talks to resolve the Middle East conflict remain stalled. Brent crude LCOc1 edged down 0.1% at $88.48 a barrel as President Donald Trump told Americans to prepare for continued high fuel prices as a result of the war, while Iran called on the U.S. to accept defeat. Shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz remains a trickle.

Against the Chinese yuan CNH=, the U.S. dollar was flat at 6.7428 yuan in offshore trade ahead of activity data due for release later on Monday.

In cryptocurrencies, both bitcoin BTC= and ether ETH= were down 0.3% at $62,854.48 and $1,874.80 respectively.

The yen crept higher against the dollar, largely shrugging off weaker-than-expected Japanese GDP data as traders postponed expectations of a rate hike from the Federal Reserve this year.