(The opinions expressed here are those of the author, a
columnist for Reuters)
By Mike Dolan
Oct 27 (Reuters) - What matters in U.S. and global
markets today
By Mike Dolan, Editor-At-Large, Finance and Markets
Trade and inflation relief are driving world stock markets
sharply higher on Monday, as we begin a packed week of big
central bank meetings and heavyweight tech earnings.
I'll get into all the market-moving news below.
Please also check out my column today in which I take a look
at how increasingly fragmented global trade and politics could
make the repatriation of global capital a key theme in the
coming years.
TODAY'S MARKET MINUTE
* Top Chinese and U.S. economic officials on Sunday hashed
out the framework of a trade deal for U.S. President Donald
Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping to decide on later this
week that would pause steeper American tariffs and Chinese rare
earths export controls, U.S. officials said.
* Argentine President Javier Milei's party cruised to
victory in midterm legislative elections as voters handed him a
mandate to keep pushing through his radical overhaul of the
economy despite widespread discontent with his deep austerity
measures.
* China's state-owned defense giant Norinco in February
unveiled a military vehicle capable of autonomously conducting
combat-support operations at 30 mph (50 kph). It was powered by
DeepSeek, the company whose artificial intelligence model is the
pride of China's tech sector.
* A common view in the crude oil market is that Western
sanctions against Russia's exports are fairly pointless as the
market quickly devises ways to keep cargoes flowing. But ROI
Asia Commodities Columnist Clyde Russell argues that it all
depends on what Western powers want to achieve.
* Copper has a long history of mine supply disruption, but
this year is proving to be a particularly troubled one for a
sector that has been racing to keep up with smelter demand. Read
the latest from ROI Metals Columnist Andy Home.
STOCKS ZOOM ON TRADE AND INFLATION RELIEF
The seemingly endless "on-off" U.S.-China trade negotiations
are back on once more.
Top Chinese and U.S. officials on Sunday hashed out a
framework for a trade deal for President Donald Trump and
Chinese President Xi Jinping to decide on later this week, one
aimed at pausing steeper U.S. tariffs and Chinese rare earths
export controls.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said talks at the ASEAN
Summit in Kuala Lumpur had eliminated the threat of Trump's 100%
tariffs on Chinese imports from November 1, and he noted that he
expected China to delay rare earth export curbs too.
U.S. stock indexes clocked record closing highs on Friday,
with the biggest weekly gains since August after a
slightly softer-than-feared September U.S. inflation readout
baked in expectations for another Federal Reserve interest rate
cut on Wednesday.
Wall Street index futures surged another 1% ahead of
Monday's bell, with Japan and South Korea's equity benchmarks up
more than 2% each and Chinese stock indexes up more than 1% to
more than 10-year highs. China's offshore yuan also jumped to a
six-week high, guided by a People's Bank of China reference rate
that was at its strongest since October last year.
Gold prices fell back nearly 2% as hopes of easing
U.S.-China trade tensions lifted risk appetite for equities.
This week's earnings diary sees five of the so-called
"Magnificent Seven" megacaps - Meta, Microsoft, Alphabet, Amazon
and Apple - due to report. They collectively make up about a
quarter of the entire S&P 500 value.
Facing a heavy schedule of new debt sales this week,
including $139 billion in 2- and 5-year notes later today, U.S.
Treasury yields have nudged higher, helped along by the stock
market surge and creeping inflation expectations in surveys.
The Bank of Canada is expected to cut by a quarter point on
Wednesday, too, with Trump's decision to add a 10% additional
tariff on Canadian imports likely to reinforce the easing
argument. Meanwhile, the Canadian dollar remains firm.
The European Central Bank and Bank of Japan are expected to
hold the line, with rising business expectations in Germany
encouraging the ECB to stand pat and the BoJ assessing the new
Japanese prime minister's fiscal policies. The yen and the euro
were firmer.
Chart of the day
Five of the so-called "Magnificent Seven" megacaps report
earnings this week, including Meta, Microsoft, Alphabet, Amazon
and Apple. AI-related capex and cloud computing growth will be
watched very closely.
Today's events to watch
* Dallas Federal Reserve's October manufacturing survey
(8:30 AM EST)
* U.S. corporate earnings: Universal Health, Cincinnati
Financial, Cadence Design, NXP, Welltower, Principal Financial,
Keurig Dr Pepper, Brown & Brown, Nucor, F5, Revvity, Hartford,
Arch Capital, Waste Management, Alexandria Real Estate
* U.S. Treasury sells $69 billion of 2-year notes and $70
billion of 5-year notes
* U.S. President Donald Trump visits Japan as part of
wider Asia tour
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Opinions expressed are those of the author. They do not reflect
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