OVERNIGHT

China's on holiday, this week Fed Chair Janet Yellen is set to give her semi-annual talk to Congress and last week's U.S. jobs report shed little light on the Fed's next interest rate moves, so it's little surprise that Japanese shares Monday faded to more than a two-week low.

The Nikkei fell 1.2% in mid-morning trading, coming off an earlier low of 16,552.30. It was the fifth straight down session and the lowest it's been since the third week of January. With China closed volume is expected to be lighter in many of the few remaining open area markets.

U.S. stocks, on the other hand, are down 8% since the end of 2015, causing an estimated $2 trillion in value of the S&P 500 to disappear. U.S. futures were higher overnight as was oil trading above $31 a barrel. Gold was down and in later trading the yen weakened allowing Japanese stocks to recover some of their earlier losses.

The Hong Kong HSI, +0.55%  stock market will also be closed from Monday to Wednesday. Respite from the Chinese market might just be what the financial doctor ordered to sooth investor nerves that  have been jangled by all the volatility since the beginning of the year. So far the Shanghai e Composite Index is off 22% despite all the easy money Chinese officials have injected into the market. That's bear market material.

Other markets closed are Indonesia, Malaysia, New Zealand, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan.