Fitch Ratings expects European structured-finance issuance to rise further.

At the midday close, China's main futures contracts were mostly lower. Container freight on the Europe route plunged more than 10%; methanol and ethylene glycol (EG) fell over 3%. Red dates, metallurgical coke, palladium, China's SC crude and platinum dropped more than 2%. On the upside, lithium carbonate gained over 4%, polysilicon nearly 2%, peanuts more than 1%, and pulp and coated paper nearly 1%.

Fed Chair Kevin Warsh said the Fed will remain an independent central bank and its independence has not changed.