Asian stocks were mostly higher following encouraging US ISM manufacturing data and European PMIs released on Monday. The MSCI Asia Pacific was 0.7% higher but the Hang Seng fell 0.4%. (Financial Times) (Bloomberg) TODAY: US factory orders for May; US vehicle sales for June. Rothschild to advise on RBS split: The US government has moved quickly to appoint advisers on the potential split of RBS, with Rothschild set to be named to run the assessment. Statement The Winklevoss Bitcoin Trust. FT Alphaville Chinese banks" valuations are close to their lowest on record after the interbank funding crisis. Bail-in fears grow for big depositors in euro periphery. LME takes aim at warehousing queues that have helped boost profits of Goldman, Glencore, Trafigura. The JLo/Turkmenistan/China/oil connection. Ruchir Sharma: Back to booms, busts and protests in EMs. Japanese husbands" monthly allowance at lowest level since 1982. What the AUD's means for commodities. Japan's banks are still addicted to government bonds. Asian markets Nikkei 225 up +125.28 (+0.90%) at 13,978 Topix up +12.63 (+1.10%) at 1,163 Hang Seng down -81.78 (-0.39%) at 20,722 US markets S&P 500 up +8.68 (+0.54%) at 1,615 DJIA up +65.36 (+0.44%) at 14,975 Nasdaq up +31.24 (+0.92%) at 3,434 European markets Eurofirst 300 up +11.41 (+0.99%) at 1,164 FTSE100 up +92.31 (+1.49%) at 6,308 CAC 40 up +28.57 (+0.76%) at 3,767 Dax up +24.70 (+0.31%) at 7,984 Currencies €/$ 1.31 (1.31) $/¥ 99.53 (99.65) £/$ 1.52 (1.52) Commodities ($) Brent Crude (ICE) down -0.07 at 102.93 Light Crude (Nymex) down -0.16 at 97.83 100 Oz Gold (Comex) up +0.90 at 1,257 Copper (Comex) unchanged 0.00 at 3.15 10-year government bond yields (%) US 2.49% UK 2.44% Germany 1.72% CDS (closing levels) Markit iTraxx SovX Western Europe -1.3bps at 95.1bp Markit iTraxx Europe -4.79bps at 114.82bp Markit iTraxx Xover -16.87bps at 459.98bp Markit CDX IG -3.01bps at 84.49bp