The stock market rebound which started on Wednesday has continued to accelerate overnight. In Asia Pacific trading, the Hang Seng soared 2.7%, while in Europe this morning, both the Dax and the FTSE are up 1.4%. US premarket trading finds the three main index contracts up 0.6% to 1.0% with the NASDAQ leading the charge.
Stocks have been ignoring a parade of hawkish central bankers that included Fed Vice Chair Brainard on Wednesday and Fed Chair Powell plus ECB President Lagarde on Thursday. Overnight, Chinese consumer prices (2.5% vs street 2.8%) and producer prices (2.3% vs street 3.1%) came in better than expected, suggesting that inflation pressures (and the pressure on central banks to tighten monetary policy may be easing in some places.
On the other hand, Canadian employment, which fell for the third straight month in August (-39K vs street +15K and previous -30K), reminded investors that weakening inflation could be also a sign of a weakening economy.
The US Dollar has been backsliding today which has ignited rallied on other currencies and commodities. The Euro, Pound, Canadian Dollar and Gold are all up 0.5%-0.6% this morning, and Bitcoin has spiked nearly 10.0%. On the commodity side, WTI Crude Oil is up 1.8% and trading back above $85.00/bbl, while natural gas is up 2.9% and copper is up 1.4%.
