US index futures continued their relentless meltup on the last day of the week, before today’s jobs report which is expected to bounce strongly from last month’s disappointing print (exp. 450K, up from 194K), and could set the pace for the Fed’s taper into 2022 if it is too much of an outlier in either direction. At 730am, e-mini S&P futures were up 8.25 or 0.18% to 4,681.5, a new all time high; Nasdaq futures rose 48 points or 0.29% and Dow futures were up 35 or 0.1%. 10Y yields were flat at 1.53% and the dollar index jumped, while Brent traded just above $80 after yesterday’s rout.

“Investors took comfort from the Federal Reserve’s slow and steady approach when announcing the time-line for its taper program,” said Michael Hewson, chief market analyst at CMC Markets in London. “Today’s payrolls report should confirm that the U.S. labor market is still improving.”

After one of the busiest earnings days this season, it has been a furious session with Expedia to News jumping in premarket trading on better-than-expected results.  Airbnb jumped 7.7% after the travel website reported record sales and earnings that exceeded analyst estimates. Meanwhile, Peloton crashed 33% after the fitness company cut its annual revenue forecast by as much as $1 billion because of declining demand in the post-pandemic economy.  Here are some of the biggest U.S. movers today:

• Peloton (PTON US) shares tanked 32% in U.S. premarket trading after analysts said its results and reduced guidance implied weaker demand than expected, and that the home-fitness company’s business model may need a rethink
• Square (SQ US) shares drop 4.5% in U.S. premarket trading after its 3Q results fell short of the consensus estimate, but its outlook remains strong, analysts say. The weakness in its Cash App and Bitcoin revenue could have been predicted, they added.
• Airbnb (ABNB US) shares rose 8% in U.S. premarket after the vacation-rental giant reported record sales and earnings that beat analysts’ estimates. RBC and Barclays hiked their price targets, citing improving earnings and supply-demand dynamics in 2022
• NRX Pharmaceuticals (NRXP US) and Relief Therapeutics (RLF SW), which are partners on a drug to treat Covid-19, tumbled after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration declined to issue an emergency use authorization for the medication.
• GoPro (GPRO US) shares soar 17.2% premarket Tuesday after the maker of mountable and wearable cameras reported third-quarter results that exceeded analyst estimates
• Expedia (EXPE US) shares rally in premarket trading, as the online travel agency reports third-quarter revenue and adjusted earnings that beat expectations. The company’s CEO also gave positive commentary about a recovery in the travel industry
• Novavax (NVAX US) climbs as much as 6% after the biotech company said it filed with the World Health Organization for emergency use listing for its Covid vaccine
• Pinterest (PINS US) rises 5% in premarket trading after the company reported stronger-than-expected profit and revenue that met analysts’ estimates
• Microchip (MCHP US) gains 2.5% in premarket trading after projecting revenue and adjusted EPS that exceeded the average analyst estimates
• Ontrak (OTRK US) jumped 24% postmarket after the tele-health company boosted its full-year guidance
• Grid Dynamics (GDYN US) jumped 18% in postmarket trading after the information-technology services company forecasts full-year revenue that beat the average analyst estimate
• Pfizer (PFE) surged more than 10% after the company announced it would seek approval for a new covid pill after strong trial data.

Looking ahead now, we’ll cap off a very busy macro week today with the US jobs report for October As previewed earlier, consensus expects +450k increase in nonfarm payrolls, which in turn would send the unemployment rate down a tenth to a post-pandemic low of 4.7%. The last couple of jobs reports have seen some downside surprises, but if realized, that +450k number would be the strongest jobs growth in 3 months. We’ve had some fairly positive labor market data in advance of the jobs report too, with the ADP’s report of private payrolls exceeding expectations on Wednesday at 571k (vs. 400k expected), and yesterday the weekly initial jobless claims for the week through October 30 fell to a fresh post-pandemic low of 269k (vs. 275k expected). The Fed made it clear this week that labor market evolution after the delta variant will be a key determinant in the future path of monetary policy.

In any case, risk euphoria was strong with Europe as well, where stocks scaled another record peak as consumer and tech companies led the Stoxx Europe 600 Index up 0.2% to an all-time high poised for the longest winning streak since mid-June. FTSE MIB and FTSE 100 outperformed at the margin. Technology stocks outperformed, while energy and travel and leisure stocks declined. Among the biggest movers, Allegro.eu SA soared 7.8% after Poland’s largest e-commerce bought a Czech peer in a $1 billion deal. Euronext NV fell 4.4% after the exchange operator’s third-quarter results undershot expectations. However, most travel stocks dropped as a fourth wave of the pandemic hits the continent, with Germany reporting record infections. European stocks extended October’s recovery to return to their all-time highs, as investors scooped up the region’s stocks thanks to a reassuring earnings season and as central banks signal they are in no hurry to raise interest rates just yet.

“We’ve seen a fairly benign reaction to the earnings season, in some respects. Perhaps people were a little bit nervous going into it,” Alastair George, chief investment strategist at Edison Group, said by phone. “The market troughed in the early part of October and has bounced back since then, and if we look at earnings revisions, they’re not as robust as they were earlier on in the Covid recovery cycle, but we’re not seeing downgrades,” George added.

Asian equities fell, as a slide in bond yields globally and a decline in Hong Kong-listed tech shares weighed on sentiment. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index slid as much as 0.5%, led lower by consumer discretionary and utility shares. Alibaba and Tencent were the biggest drags with analysts accessing earnings outlooks ahead of the companies’ quarterly results announcements. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Tech Index fell 1.6%, while the benchmark Hang Seng Index dropped 1.4%. Traders are now awaiting the U.S. jobs report later Friday for further cues on monetary policy tightening. “Markets will be seeking confirmation on whether the job market recovery warrants a mid to late-2022 lift-off in rates as reflected in the Fed funds futures,” Jun Rong Yeap, market strategist at IG Asia, wrote in a note. The Asian stock benchmark is set for a weekly rise of less than 1% as the earnings season progresses. Supply-chain constraints and inflation worries are being cited as concerns by many of the largest companies in the region, with several seeing their shares tumble as the chip shortage prompts them to slash their annual profit forecasts. India’s stock market was closed for a holiday Friday.

Japanese stocks fell as the yen held its strength against the dollar and investors assessed the potential supply response from the U.S. to a gradual hike in production from OPEC+. The Topix index dropped 0.7% to close at 2,041.42 in Tokyo, while the Nikkei 225 declined 0.6% to 29,611.57. Toyota Motor contributed the most to the Topix’s loss, decreasing 1.4%. Out of 2,181 shares in the index, 540 rose and 1,589 fell, while 52 were unchanged. Japan’s currency was little changed at 113.64 yen per dollar, after gaining 0.2% on Thursday

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 index rose 0.4% to 7,456.90, its highest close since Sept. 16. The benchmark gained 1.8% for the week.  Eight of the 11 subgauges finished Friday trade higher, with miners and healthcare stocks driving the gains.  The Reserve Bank of Australia struck an upbeat note on the economy, while maintaining that faster wages growth and inflation will take some time and the first interest-rate increase is unlikely before 2024. Administration soared after receiving a conditional, non-binding indicative takeover proposal from investment fund Carlyle Asia Partners V. Clinuvel tumbled after it was cut to hold at Jefferies.  In New Zealand, the S&P/NZX 50 index rose 1% to 13,074.61.

In FX, the Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index reached its strongest level in more than three weeks as the greenback was steady or higher versus all of its Group-of-10 peers. The euro traded near its cycle lows following strong U.S. data and renewed dovish commentary by European Central Bank officials and options now paint a similar outlook. The slowdown in inflation next year may not be as intense and quick as the European Central Bank had anticipated a few months ago, ECB Vice President Luis de Guindos says. The pound fell against all its Group-of-10 peers and gilts rallied, sending yields down by as many as 5 basis points. Money markets no longer fully price the Bank of England raising its key rate to 1% in Dec. 2022, pushing bets out to Feb. 2023. Labor market data is an important piece of the jigsaw for the BOE, Governor Andrew Bailey says in an interview with BBC Radio 4. Australia’s 10-year bonds had their first weekly gain in more than two months after the BOE joined the RBA and the Fed in pushing back against aggressive rate-hike bets; the Aussie and Kiwi weakened. The yen rose as traders unwound bearish bets on the currency before the release of key U.S. jobs data and repricing of the outlook for policy tightening.

In rates, the 10Y yield was unchanged at 1.53%. Gilts extend Thursday’s post-BO shockE rally, richening ~5bps across the curve in a modest flattening move. Short sterling futures add 2.5-3 ticks in red and green packs as expectations for higher rates are pared back. MPC-dated OIS rates factor in only 11bps of hike by the December meeting and no longer fully price the Bank’s rate at 1% by end-2022. Bunds follow, cash USTs drift ahead of today’s payrolls release.

In commodities, crude futures hold a narrow range after OPEC+ rebuffed U.S. demands for accelerated output.with WTI trading just below $80. Spot gold drifts higher, briefly testing $1,800/oz. Base metals are mixed: LME lead and tin rally, zinc drops over 1.5% with canceled warrants hitting the highest since August

To the day ahead now, and the main data highlight will be the aforementioned US jobs report, but European data will also include September figures on Euro Area retail sales and German and French industrial production. Central bank speakers will include the ECB’s Vice President de Guindos, as well as the ECB’s Holzmann, Centeno and Panetta, in addition to the BoE’s Ramsden, Pill and Tenreyro.

Market Snapshot

• S&P 500 futures little changed at 4,674.25
• STOXX Europe 600 up 0.1% to 483.89
• German 10Y yield little changed at -0.24%
• Euro little changed at $1.1558
• MXAP down 0.4% to 198.36
• MXAPJ down 0.3% to 645.66
• Nikkei down 0.6% to 29,611.57
• Topix down 0.7% to 2,041.42
• Hang Seng Index down 1.4% to 24,870.51
• Shanghai Composite down 1.0% to 3,491.57
• Sensex up 0.5% to 60,067.62
• Australia S&P/ASX 200 up 0.4% to 7,456.94
• Kospi down 0.5% to 2,969.27
• Brent Futures up 0.8% to $81.22/bbl
• Gold spot up 0.4% to $1,798.55
• U.S. Dollar Index little changed at 94.35

Top Overnight News from Bloomberg

• Germany reported record Covid-19 infections for a second straight day, as a fourth wave of the pandemic hits Europe and threatens to overwhelm hospitals in some hot spots
• The increasingly influential expectations gap between bond traders and central bankers faces a fresh test Friday — U.S. jobs data that could reignite or damp out the inflation concerns policy makers tried to downplay this week
• A shortage of homes for sale and a buoyant labor market are expected to underpin the U.K. housing market as consumers come under pressure from soaring inflation and higher interest rates, according to Halifax

A more detailed look at global markets courtesy of Newsquawk

Asian equity markets traded cautiously following a somewhat mixed handover from the US where the S&P 500 and Nasdaq extended on fresh record highs with outperformance in rate-sensitive stocks alongside the rally in global bonds. However, the DJIA lagged but with only marginal losses as attention shifted to the upcoming NFP jobs data, while Chinese developer default concerns provided headwinds in Asia after reports Kaisa Group missed a payment on its wealth management product. ASX 200 (+0.4%) was underpinned by strength in the mining-related sectors as gold producers benefitted from the recent advances in the precious metal which approached just shy of the USD 1800/oz level and with sentiment also helped by the continued dovish tone by the RBA in its quarterly Statement on Monetary Policy, although advances were capped amid losses in tech and with energy names suffering due to lower oil prices. Nikkei 225 (-0.6%) weakness was a function of recent adverse currency flows but with downside stemmed as participants digest a slew of earnings releases and reports the government is considering cash handouts of JPY 100k to under-18s. Hang Seng (-1.4%) and Shanghai Comp. (-1.0%) were both subdued with Hong Kong pressured by losses in the blue chip financial, tech and energy stocks and with property names also constrained by the missed Kaisa Group payment which the Shenzhen-based developer plans to repay in instalments. It was also reported that China told certain smaller banks to limit wealth products, although the losses in the mainland were cushioned after the PBoC upped its liquidity effort despite still resulting in a net daily drain. Finally, 10yr JGBs were higher following on from the gains in global counterparts which were spurred by the surprise BoE hold on rates and with the weakness in Japanese stocks also helping keep bond prices afloat, with price action also unfazed by the lack of purchases from the BoJ which were instead seeking to buy corporate bonds with 1yr-3yr maturities for Nov. 10th.

Top Asian News

• Japan Eases Many Covid-Era Border Restrictions as Cases Slump
• Developer in China Misses Payment on Loan Backed by Fantasia
• World’s Largest Pension Fund GPIF Posts $17 Billion Gain
• HSBC Requests All of Its Hong Kong Staff to Get Vaccinated

European equities broadly trade on a marginally firmer footing (Euro Stoxx 50 +0.4%; Stoxx 600 +0.2%) with the Stoxx 600 set to close the week out with gains of around 1.6%. Macro commentary for the session has been relatively light thus far in the wake of yesterday’s BoE surprise. The handover from the APAC session was predominantly a negative one with Hang Seng (-1.4%) and Shanghai Comp. (-1%) both subdued as stocks in Hong Kong were pressured by losses in the blue-chip financial, tech and energy stocks and with property names also constrained by the missed Kaisa Group payment which the Shenzhen-based developer plans to repay in instalments. Stateside, futures have been inching higher ahead of the latest US jobs report with consensus looking for a 450k addition in nonfarm payrolls. Events in Washington are also worth keeping an eye on after CNN’s Raju reported yesterday that House Dems see Friday as the day they can finish the rule, USD 1.75tln Build Back Better bill and infrastructure bill. The Infrastructure bill would then go to Biden’s desk and the USD 1.75tln bill would go to the Senate for further negotiation with Manchin and other Senate Dems. Back to Europe, sectors are relatively mixed with Telecom names outperforming amid gains in BT (+1.8%) who sit at the top of the FTSE 100 as speculation continues to rumble on that billionaire investor Patrick Drahi could make a move for the Co. Deutsche Telekom is also providing support for the sector after confirming that IFM is to buy 50% in Co’s Glasfaserplys GmbH for EUR 900mln. To the downside, Travel & Leisure names lag as opening gains for IAG (-2.1%) proved to be fleeting with the Co. warning of a potential EUR 3bln FY loss alongside Q3 earnings. Elsewhere, Oil & Gas names are trading lower alongside losses in the crude complex, with Basic Resources also near the foot of the leaderboard.

Top European News

• Adler Pressure Builds With Idle Cranes and Angry Berlin Buyers
• Axa Jumps to More Than 3-Year High After Share Buyback Plan
• Europe Gas Prices Rebound as Traders Eye Russia’s Next Move
• ECB’s Guindos Says Inflation Will Slow in 2022 ‘Without a Doubt’

In FX, the Dollar index has gained some traction and has broken out of the 94.273-417 APAC range in the run-up to the US labour market report – with the headline NFP print forecast at 450k (full preview available in the Newsquawk Research Suite), although anything short of an extreme jobs reports this month will likely not sway the Fed’s dials following the taper announcement earlier this week – which will commence later this month. On the fiscal front, the US House is to meet at 12:00GMT/08:00EDT to debate the procedural rule to put the social spending bill on the floor. Democrats hope to debate and vote on the social spending and infrastructure bills today, according to Fox. From a technical perspective, DXY eyes yesterday 94.475 high ahead of the YTD peak at 94.563.

• GBP, EUR – Sterling is the marked laggard thus far in what is seemingly a hangover on the day after the BoE coupled with Brexit risk, as the UK and EU’s Brexit negotiators are set to meet in a bid to temper down cross-channel frictions. Governor Bailey made an appearance on UK radio this morning but failed to provide much in the way of additional colour regarding yesterday’s policy decision – with markets currently assigning a 2/3 chance of a 15bps hike in December. On that note, BoE’s new Chief Economist Pill, alongside MPC members Tenreyro and Ramsden, are all slated to speak throughout the session. Over to Brexit developments, RTE’s Connelly recently reported that there is a “growing expectation” that the UK will trigger Article 16 – suggesting that “the view is that the EU’s response could be much swifter and more ‘radical’ than expected.”, although a special meeting of the bloc’s leaders will likely be needed before any move. From a technical standpoint, EUR/GBP breached overnight resistance at 0.8565 before briefly topping the 200 DMA at 0.8584. In turn, GBP/USD declined from its 1.3508 high to a base sub-1.3450, with some traders suggesting the pair ran into sellers just ahead of a Fib level at 1.3511. EUR is supported by the EUR/GBP cross, with EUR/USD relatively flat on the day and still above yesterday’s 1.1527 low. EUR/USD also looks ahead to some OpEx – with EUR 1.4bln between 1.5555-60 alongside some EUR 725mln at strike 1.1575.
• AUD, NZD, CAD – The high-beta non-US dollars all post modest intraday losses. The Aussie sits at the bottom of this bunch after the RBA’s SoMP overnight reiterated a patient approach, with headwinds also felt by a decline in iron ore prices overnight whilst copper trades lacklustre. NZD is softer in sympathy whilst the Loonie bears the brunt of lower post-OPEC crude prices. AUD/USD has declined from a 0.7408 peak and dips under its 200 DMA (0.7379) ahead of the 50 DMA (0.7364). NZD/USD meanwhile loses ground under the 0.7100 mark – which also coincides with its 21 and 200 DMAs. USD/CAD eyes its 200 DMA at 1.2479 from a 1.2450 base in the run-up to the Canadian jobs report – with the pair also cognizant of USD 1.3bln in OpEx between 1.2500-05.

In commodities, WTI and Brent front-month futures consolidate following yesterday’s post-OPEC+ declines and heading into today’s main event – the US labour market report. To recap the OPEC+ confab, ministers opted to continue the current plan to hike monthly output by 400k BPD (despite calls from the US to up output by 600-800k BPD), whilst reports also suggested that there will be no compensation for the underproduction seen from some nations. Traders are now on the lookout for a US response, with Washington yesterday reiterating the use of tools against oil prices. As a reminder, US Energy Secretary Granholm in an FT interview in October raised the prospect of an SPR release, whilst also refusing to rule out a ban on oil crude oil exports, suggesting “it is also a tool”. From the demand side, China’s economic slowdown has prompted JPM to downgrade the nation’s GDP growth forecast by 1ppt to 4.0%, citing the lingering impact of the power crunch and resurgence in COVID. It’s also worth noting that next week will see the Chinese inflation metrics, with oil prices expected to contribute to another Y/Y rise in PPI. WTI Dec trades just under USD 80/bbl (vs 78.96/bbl low) whilst Brent Jan trades on either side of USD 81/bbl (vs low 80.26/bbl). Turning to metals, spot gold and silver are uninteresting heading into the US jobs report whilst LME copper remains under USD 9,500/t. Overnight, Dalian iron ore futures fell once again to log a fourth consecutive week of losses amid China’s crackdown on the raw material.

US Event Calendar

• 8:30am: Oct. Change in Nonfarm Payrolls, est. 450,000, prior 194,000
  • Change in Private Payrolls, est. 420,000, prior 317,000
  • Unemployment Rate, est. 4.7%, prior 4.8%
  • Underemployment Rate, prior 8.5%
  • Labor Force Participation Rate, est. 61.7%, prior 61.6%
  • Average Hourly Earnings YoY, est. 4.9%, prior 4.6%
  • Average Hourly Earnings MoM, est. 0.4%, prior 0.6%
  • Average Weekly Hours All Emplo, est. 34.8, prior 34.8
• 3pm: Sept. Consumer Credit, est. $16b, prior $14.4b

DB’s Jim Reid concludes the overnight wrap

Markets had another buoyant session yesterday as they received a dovish surprise from the Bank of England, just as they were digesting the Fed’s tapering decision from the previous evening. In response, markets shifted gear and pushed back pricing of future rate hikes, which in turn led to a sharp rally across the curve in sovereign bond markets in every major economy. And with investors lowering the odds of a near-term removal in monetary policy support, that helped equities take another leg higher, with the S&P 500 (+0.42%) advancing for the 15th time in the last 17 sessions to reach a fresh all-time high.

We’ll start with the BoE as they generated the main headlines, and contrary to building expectations that a potential rate hike could be imminent, the MPC in fact voted by 7-2 to keep Bank Rate on hold at 0.1%, with only the most hawkish members favouring a 15bps increase. This came in spite of the fact that the BoE upgraded their inflation forecasts yet again, now seeing CPI peaking “at around 5% in April 2022”. The meeting summary did say that if the data was in line with their projections it would “be necessary over coming months to increase Bank Rate”, but overall it was a pretty dovish decision, with the MPC also voting by 6-3 to continue with its existing QE program. In their forecasts that were conditioned on the market-implied path for Bank Rate, they said “a margin of spare capacity is expected to emerge”, and that CPI would be beneath target at the end of the forecast period, so again pushing back against market pricing that had been looking for multiple hikes in 2022. In response, our UK economists have shifted their call for lift-off of 15bps to December, before seeing further 25bps hikes in May 2022 and February 2023. For more details, see their reaction note (link here).

Markets reacted strongly to the decision as investors were surprised by the extent of the BoE’s dovishness. Gilts rallied sharply and outperformed sovereign bonds elsewhere, with 5yr yields (-20.0bps) seeing their biggest move lower in over 5 years, back in the immediate aftermath of the 2016 Brexit referendum. The 2yr yield was also down a massive -21.1 bps, marking its own biggest move lower since the initial market panic over Covid-19 back in March 2020. And sterling (-1.37%) had its worst performance against the dollar so far this year, which therefore left it as the worst performer among the G10 currencies too.

The BoE meeting triggered a rally of global sovereign bonds, though whilst the gilt curve bull steepened, most other curves wound up flatter on the day. In the US, yields on 10yr Treasuries fell -7.7 bps to 1.53%, marking their biggest move lower since August, whilst the 2yr Treasury yield retreated -4.4bps. Real yields continue to drive the treasury curve, with the 10yr real yield down -8.6 bps to move back beneath -1% again. Elsewhere in Europe, yields on 10yr bunds (-5.6bps), OATs (-6.4bps) and BTPs (-11.4bps) all declined as well, with lower real yields the driver once again.

This dramatic shift to price in greater monetary support for longer was good news for equities yesterday, with the major indices pressing on to fresh all-time highs. By the close of trade, the S&P 500 (+0.42%) had hit a new record, though in reality it was a fairly narrow-based advance, with fewer than half of the companies in the index actually moving higher on the day, whilst financials (-1.34%) underperformed against the backdrop of lower yields and a flatter curve. Interest-sensitive tech stocks did much better, with the NASDAQ (+0.81%) also at a record high as it achieved a 9th consecutive daily advance, its longest winning streak since 2019, whilst the FANG+ index of megacap tech stocks advanced +1.29% to reach a fresh high of its own. Over in Europe, the STOXX 600 (+0.41%) hit a record high too, even if the index was similarly hampered by financials (-0.86%), and records were also attained by Germany’s DAX (+0.44%) and France’s CAC 40 (+0.53%).

That rally in equities hasn’t carried over into Asia this morning where indices including the Nikkei (-0.72%), the KOSPI (-0.65%), the Hang Seng (-0.96%) and the Shanghai Composite (-0.25%) are all trading lower. However, the surge in sovereign bonds has been echoed elsewhere, with yields on Australian 10yr debt down -4.0bps this morning, and bonds also advanced in China after the PBOC increased their short-term cash injections yet again. Speaking of Chinese debt, Kaisa Group Holdings Ltd, a developer, and its units listed in Hong Kong were suspended from trading after the company missed payments on wealth products and raised liquidity concerns. Meanwhile, the latest Covid-19 outbreak in China continued to spread, with a further 90 new cases reported on Friday, 22 of which were asymptomatic. Otherwise, S&P 500 futures (+0.01%) are almost unchanged this morning and yields on 10y Treasuries have moved up +1.2bps.

Looking ahead now, we’ll cap off a very busy macro week today with the US jobs report for October, which is out at 12:30 London time. In terms of what to expect, our US economists are looking for a +400k increase in nonfarm payrolls, which in turn would send the unemployment rate down a tenth to a post-pandemic low of 4.7%. The last couple of jobs reports have seen some downside surprises, but if realised, that +400k number would be the strongest jobs growth in 3 months. We’ve had some fairly positive labour market data in advance of the jobs report too, with the ADP’s report of private payrolls exceeding expectations on Wednesday at 571k (vs. 400k expected), and yesterday the weekly initial jobless claims for the week through October 30 fell to a fresh post-pandemic low of 269k (vs. 275k expected). The Fed made it clear this week that labour market evolution after the delta variant will be a key determinant in the future path of monetary policy.

Speaking of the Fed, it was reported by Dow Jones that Fed Chair Powell was seen visiting the White House yesterday. It comes with just 3 months left until the end of Powell’s current 4-year term, and follows President Biden saying on Tuesday that an announcement on the Fed position would come “fairly quickly”. For reference, the decision on who would be nominated as Fed Chair had already been announced at this point 4, 8 and 12 years ago.

As well as the BoE, the other important meeting was that from the OPEC+ group, who rejected the demands from President Biden and others for a larger increase in oil production. They decided to increase output by +400k b/d in December, though afterwards oil actually gave up its surge earlier in the day to end the session lower, with WTI moving all the way from an intraday peak where it was up +3.17% to close down by -2.54%. A spokesperson for the US National Security Council said that the US would consider a range of tools to deal with oil prices, and Energy Secretary Granholm said last month that releasing crude oil from the strategic petroleum reserve was being considered.

Lastly on the data front, the Euro Area composite PMI for October was revised down a tenth from the flash reading to 54.2, whilst the services PMI was also revised down a tenth to 54.6. Separately, the Euro Area PPI reading for September came in at +16.0% year-on-year (vs. +15.4% expected). Lastly, the preliminary Q3 reading of nonfarm productivity showed an annualised decline of -5.0% (vs. -3.1% expected), which was its largest quarterly decline since 1981.

To the day ahead now, and the main data highlight will be the aforementioned US jobs report, but European data will also include September figures on Euro Area retail sales and German and French industrial production. Central bank speakers will include the ECB’s Vice President de Guindos, as well as the ECB’s Holzmann, Centeno and Panetta, in addition to the BoE’s Ramsden, Pill and Tenreyro.