The NZD is the strongest and the USD is the weakest as the NA session begins. The debt and the stock market is getting a boost in early trading after reports that China may look to abandon it’s zero-Covid policy (there was some pushback from China officials however). Yesterday, there were reports of Apple workers at the Foxcomm facility escaping after reports of a widespread outbreak might keep employees stuck at the facility. The shutdowns cause on again, off again disruptions to the economy. Recent PMI data for manufacturing and non-manufacturing came in weaker than expectations at 49.2 and 48.7 respectively (both missed the consensus expectations) signaling contraction in those two sectors. 3rd quarter GDP growth released last week came in at 3.9% which was higher than expected (QoY), but with winter approaching it is feared outbreaks will continue.

In Australia, the Reserve Bank of Australia raise rates by 25 basis points as expected. RBA’s Lowe said that the central bank needs to strike a balance between doing too much too little. As a result the fell appropriate to raise rates at a slower pace. At the last meeting they also increase by 25 basis points. The central bankers still said that they still see rates going higher but they are not on a preset path.

The US stocks are higher in premarket trading one day after the month of October ended with the Dow having it’s best % gain for a month since January 1976. The S&P and Nasdaq also . The US yields are sharply lower as well on hopes for less supply disruptions and lower inflation as a result. Of course there is the global increase in demand for goods from China which may offset some of that hope. Crude oil prices are higher today by 1.28% at $87.64 as a reflection. The Fed is still expected to raise rates by 75 basis points when they meet tomorrow and their track is for another 50 basis points in December. However, the expectations are that the Fed is reaching the point where the policy is restrictive and they will be entering the period of wait and see the impact.

A look around the markets are showing:

• spot gold is up $21 or 1.28% at $1653.76 as reacts to the dollars decline
• Spot silver is up $0.83 or 4.33% at $19.93.
• WTI crude oil futures are up 1.28% at $87.64
• Bitcoin is trading fairly steady at $20,537
• Dogecoin is trading up 11.69% at $0.1463 after extending to a high of $0.1588 (see post here). Since Fridays low, the prices up 96%.

In the premarket for US stocks:

• Dow industrial average is up 221 points after yesterdays -128.85 point decline. Decline yesterday snapped a 6 day win streak. T
• S&P index is trading up 39 points after yesterdays -29.10 point decline
• NASDAQ index is trading up 142 points after yesterdays -114.31 point decline

in the European equity markets, they are also cheering on the China news:

• German Dax up 1.28%
• France’s CAC up 1.65%
• UK’s FTSE 100 up 0.55%
• Spain’s Ibex up 1.16%
• Italy’s FTSE MIB up 1.76%

In the US debt market, yields are lower across the board with the longer end down more as yield curve gets more negative:

in the European debt markets, the benchmark 10 year yields are also sharply lower: