From Marc to Market:
Overview: The global capital markets have begun the week with a better tone than last week ended. Equities are higher. In the Asia Pacific region, Japan, South Korea, and Hong Kong led with more than a 1% advance, and the MSCI Asia Pacific Index snapped a three-day slide. Stocks in Europe are higher for a second day, and the 1.2% gain in late-morning turnover is the largest in a couple of weeks. US shares are also trading stronger. Benchmark 10-year yields are mixed, though with a slight upside bias in Europe, except for the UK, which the yield, like for US Treasuries, is a little lower. The US 10-year yield is about 0.86%. The dollar is firmer, though not against the dollar bloc, and the JP Morgan Emerging Market Currency Index is off for a sixth consecutive session, with the Russian rouble and Turkish lira off the most. Despite reports suggesting progress with fisheries, sterling is the weakest of the majors, though it is recovering after having fallen to almost $1.2850, its lowest level in nearly a month. Gold is firm but capped around $1890. Oil prices skidded lower amid the new in Europe and rising supply from Libya. The December WTI contract fell to about $33.65, the lowest level since late May, stabilizing.
Asia Pacific
China's official October PMI was little changed, leaving the general sense of that recovery remains intact. The manufacturing PMI slipped to 51.4 from 51.5. A Reuters survey found a median expectation for 51.3. Output slipped, new orders were unchanged, and export orders ticked up. The Reuters survey found that economists expected the service PMI to ease 55.2 from 55.9, but instead, it rose to 56.2. However, the forward-looking components, like new business, slowed, and new export orders fell further below the 50 boom/bust. Service employment contracted at a slower pace (49.4 vs. 49.1), while redundancies in the manufacturing sector accelerated slightly (49.3 vs. 49.6). The Caixin manufacturing PMI defied expectations by rising to 53.6 (from 53.0), though the growth export orders slowed.
A common pattern with the October manufacturing PMI is that most countries saw improvement from the preliminary estimate, where available, or from September. Japan's manufacturing PMI rose to 48.7 from the 48.0 flash reading and 47.7 in September. South Korea's manufacturing PMI rose to 51.2 from 49.8. It is the highest since September 2018. India's manufacturing PMI rose to 58.9, its highest since 2010....
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