Bernard Hickey details the key news overnight in 90 seconds at 9 am in association with Bank of New Zealand, including news that Britain has announced massive budget cuts as it tries to turn around its economy and stop borrowing.
UK Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne announced cuts in department spending of 19% and up to 500,000 job losses.
This works out at 81 billion pounds of cuts, but will only see the budget deficit drop from 10.1% of GDP to 2.1% of GDP by 2014/15.
Osborne described it as a budget that would get the economy 'back from the brink'.
Meanwhile, the US Federal Reserve's 'Beige Book' measure of economic activity showed the world's largest economy grew at only a 'modest pace' in late September and early October.
This renewed talk the Fed will announce a second round of Quantitative Easing or money printing on November 3.
The US dollar fell to a 15 year low vs the Yen and the renewed suggestions that America wants to print its way out of debt by devaluing its economy and encouraging inflation encouraged investors to put more money in riskier assets, including stocks, junk bonds and emerging markets, particularly those with exposure to rising commodity prices in an inflationary era.
The New Zealand dollar rose to 75.5 USc overnight from 74 USc yesterday and the Australian dollar rose even faster and further. It was up at 98.7 US this morning from 96.5 USc yesterday.
Oil rose US$2 a barrel to US$82 a barrel.
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