Asian markets rose; China releases CPI, PPI data

China’s consumer prices fell in October as the world’s second-largest economy struggled with a patchy post-Covid recovery.

Data from China’s National Bureau of Statistics shows Consumer Price Index fell It was 0.2% year-on-year, compared with a 0.1% decline expected by economists polled by Reuters.

China’s CPI was unexpectedly flat in September, highlighting the need for more policy support.

Manufacturer prices It fell 2.6%, slightly smaller than the 2.7% decline expected and marking the 13th straight month of decline.

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– Shreyashi Sanyal

According to Morgan Stanley, now is a good time to buy gold stocks.

Tensions in the Middle East fueled by the Israel-Hamas war fueled a gold “safe haven” rally as investments in the precious metal surged. There was a pullback in this rally and gold spot prices are up 0.05% year to date.

However, it is worth noting that gold stocks have underperformed gold prices by about 20% in the past three months, with analysts at the investment bank naming several stocks to play a “golden opportunity”.

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– Amala Balakrishna

According to BNP Paribas’ global chief investment officer, the bond bear market is the worst in more than 200 years.

But, he said, there is an opportunity for investors in one corner of the bond market: U.S. “fallen angels” in the high-yield debt segment.

According to Morningstar, CNBC Pro looks at some high-quality mutual funds and exchange-traded funds.

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– Weissen Don

According to Bank of America, while allocations to active strategies shrunk, October’s approximation of the major averages spoke for a relatively good month, at least for stock pickers.

68% of large cap active managers reported success for the month, higher than usual. That brought the year-to-date pulse rate to 41%, above the 38% average. The average large-cap active fund lost 1.9%, compared to a 2.5% loss for the benchmark.

However, investors have reduced their allocations to active funds, which now fall to 47% of total assets under management. Savita Subramanian, equity and quant strategist at Bank of America, said managers were “hugging the benchmark” as confidence in the market’s direction waned.

Both value and core managers had strong months, posting rates of 84% and 80%, respectively.

– Jeff Cox

The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages fell to 7.61% from 7.86% last week.

Amid the pullback, total mortgage application volume rose 2.5% last week, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s seasonally adjusted index.

– Diana Olick, Samantha Subin

The energy complex continued to move lower throughout Wednesday, pushing December RBOB gasoline futures down to $2.1220 a gallon, the lowest since Dec. 16, 2022.

On the crude side, December West Texas Intermediate contracts touched $74.91 a barrel intraday, while January Brent contracts fell to $79.20 a barrel, in both cases the weakest prices since July 20.

The S&P 500 energy index was one of the worst-hit groups of stocks on Wednesday, falling 0.9% in late-day trading and down 9% so far in the fourth quarter, the worst among the S&P 500’s 11 major sectors.

Brent crude futures were down $2.07, or 2.54%, at $79.54 a barrel. U.S. crude lost $2.04, or 2.64%, to settle at $75.33.

– Scott Schnipper, Christopher Hayes