Asian stocks, commodities rise

Asian equities and commodities rose as traders bet on further reopening of the Chinese economy from Covid restrictions. Currencies of materials and energy exporters climbed.

A benchmark of Asian shares headed for its highest close since August and was approaching a technical bull market.

The greenback fell versus most of its major counterparts, with notable weakness versus the Norwegian krone and the Australian and Canadian dollars.

China’s offshore yuan strengthened through the 7-per-dollar level for the first time in nearly three months.

The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index rallied as much as 4 percent.

Oil advanced on the prospect of more demand from China, as OPEC+ kept output steady and sanctions on Russian crude kicked in. Iron ore and copper climbed.

Chinese authorities eased Covid testing requirements across major cities over the weekend as Beijing appears to be engineering a gradual shift away from its strict Covid Zero policy amid elevated cases and public protests.

Meanwhile, Treasury yields climbed during Asian trading after last week’s wild moves following the US jobs report. Government bond yields in Australia and New Zealand fell.

Stronger-than-expected US jobs figures on Friday prompted traders to increase their wagers on where rates will top out in the current tightening cycle, rather than changing their bets for the size of the increase at the Federal Reserve’s December meeting. Policymakers are still expected to deliver a downshift to a 50 basis points hike at the gathering.

Employers added more jobs than forecast and wages surged by the most in nearly a year. Nonfarm payrolls increased 263,000 in November, while the unemployment rate held at 3,7 percent. Average hourly earnings rose twice as much as predicted.

In other news,

Inflation decreasing from the United States to Europe

In the US, so-called core inflation, which excludes food and energy prices, rose a below-forecast 0,2 percent in October from a month earlier. Euro-zone annual inflation slowed inNovember by the most since 2020, but still remained elevated at 10 percent.

Despite the cooling, there’s still evidence that inflation could prove more enduring. US employers added more jobs than forecast and wages surged by the most in nearly a year.

And in the UK, employers are still confident they can pass on higher costs to consumers, while inflation…continue reading