Global equities markets are reflecting mixed sessions with a focus on U.S. non-farm payroll data, which is due to release at 8:30am EST. Asian stocks were deep in red while the Japanese yen registered steep gains throughout the session. Risk appetite faded after reports of police and anti-police violence emerged in the United States.

Market turns away from big bets

Markets were already jittery due to the negative outlook over Brexit uncertainty and the possibility of a crisis in Italian banks. Traders rushed to safe-haven assets, bringing a dull start to the second half of the year. In Asia, the Nikkei 225 (INDEXNIKKEI:NI225) reported the largest losses, falling 1.11% to 15,106.98. The Shanghai SE Composite Index dipped 0.95% to 2,988.09.

Soichiro Monji, chief strategist at Daiwa SB Investments, said that markets are not willing to put more risk on the table as they are waiting to see how the scenario around Italian Banks plays out. At the same time, U.S. jobs data will keep any risky moves off the table until publication. The United Kingdom’s FTSE 100 (INDEXFTSE:UKX) opened unchanged at 6,537.35.

Sterling continues to gain

In currencies, GBP/USD (GBPUSD) continued to strengthen off lows, unfazed by subdued trade data released in U.K. According to the U.K. Office for National Statistics, the region’s goods trade deficit jumped £9.88 billion from £9.41 billion in April. In early European hours, GBP gained 0.23% to 1.2935 against the U.S. Dollar (CURRENCY:USD). EUR/USD ( EURUSD) also marched higher by 0.10% to 1.1074. However, USD/JPY (USDJPY) extended losses by 0.17% to 100.60.

Oil recovered from two-month lows to trade in positive territory again. Oil prices hit a setback during the previous session after a US government report indicated a lower-than-expected fall in U.S. crude inventories. But, prices rebounded today as Brent Crude gained 0.78% to $46.76 and West Texas Intermediate Crude oil advanced 0.82% to $45.51.