Most Asian stock benchmarks declined while currencies like the Malaysian ringgit and Indonesian rupiah fell to fresh lows against the US dollar, after a U.S.jobs report Friday refocused investors’ attention on the possibility that the Federal Reserve may soon raise short-term interest rates.

West Texas Intermediate crude sank 1.5 percent to $45.37 a barrel with all electronic transactions to be booked with Tuesdays for settlement purposes because of the Labor Day holiday in the US Brent also slipped a second day, losing 1.3 percent to $48.99 per barrel after Venezuela proposed an OPEC summit to stabilize prices amid a global oil glut.

Non-farm payrolls increased 173,000 last month, fewer than the 220,000 that economists polled by Reuters had expected. The Fed’s deputy chairman said earlier that the US central bank still was on track for a rate hike this year, but Friday’s report fueled uncertainty about whether it will feel confident enough to act.

Reinforcing that point for investors Monday, China cut its growth rate for past year to 7.3% from 7.4%.

Previously strong expectations that the Fed will tighten this month have weakened somewhat on the global markets turmoil and emerging worries over China’s economy with its potential impact on global growth.

The United States stood at 119.30 yen after sliding from a peak of 120.19 on Friday. Standard & Poor’s 500 Index futures climbed after the measure slumped in the wake of Friday’s U.S. jobs data.

Australia’s dollar rose from a six-year low against the USA currency after Chinese officials signaled confidence in their economy at a gathering of Group of 20 finance chiefs. Still the onshore yuan fell 0.2% to 6.3674 compared with its close Friday.

“These concerns likely outweigh the prospects of additional easing by the Bank of Japan, which many continue to see as likely as early as next month”.

Japan’s Topix index lost 0.7% after the yen strengthened for a third straight week.

“Since mid-June, three rounds of corrections took place in China’s stock market“, he went on.

Investors have been aggressive sellers of the Aussie in recent weeks, in large part due to heightened concerns about a hard landing for the Chinese economy.