- Summary of trade between 17:00 ET and 23:00 ET: Asian stock markets tracked the Wall Street rally, but investors continue to wonder if the worst is over for stocks. The JPY weakened across the board as some suggest that the consensus has been too quick to call the end of the carry trades. The USD came under renewed selling pressure ahead of tomorrow's retail sales data, and the weaker USD lifted crude and gold prices. A New Zealand Producer Price Index added weight to the consensus that the RBNZ will leave rates on hold, while blowout retail sales data showed that China's growth is broad-based, not exclusively export-dependent.

- Chinese retail sales surge in October: (CH OCT RETAIL SALES YOY: 18.1% V 17% expected; YTD: 16.1% V 15.9% prior) Analysts said that the data shows that China's economy continues to grow strongly and that growth is broad-based, not exclusively export-dependent. The data reinforces the view that the PBoC could hike interest rates in the near-term, especially after yesterday's runaway inflation data.

- New Zealand producer prices jump higher in Q3: (NZ Q3 PRODUCER PRICES INPUTS QOQ: 2.3% V 1.1% expected; OUTPUTS: 1.6% V 1.1% expected) Statistics New Zealand said that much of the index's upside came from the sharp price increases in dairy products at the farm level. The rise in the dairy cattle farming index was the highest since the survey began in 1994.

- Forex: EUR/USD traded higher for the entire Asian morning, but the pair could not move above 1.4660. USD/JPY was choppy, but both the EUR and GBP managed to hold on to gains against the JPY. AUD/USD rebounded as some traders took the view that recent selling was overdone, and the pair managed to hold on to gains above 0.9000. The CHF outperformed the JPY for the entire Asian morning, while NZD/AUD trading was choppy. Between 17:00 ET and 23:14 ET: EUR/USD +0.33%, USD/CHF -0.41%, GBP/JPY +0.47%, NZD/JPY +0.93%, AUD/USD +0.77%, AUD/CHF +0.35%, USD index -0.32%

- Equities: At 22:50 ET Japan's Nikkei is +2.26% (gaining for the first time in 9 sessions), Australia's ASX is +0.90%, South Korea's KOSPI is +1.99%, and the Shanghai Composite Index is +1.33%. Exporters and financials led the charge on the Nikkei, while Aussie resource stocks rallied on M&A speculation. China Mobile rallied more than 6.0% after reports of an iPhone deal, adding fuel to the Hang Seng rally.

- Commodities: Crude oil gained +0.37% between 18:00 ET and 23:00 ET, last quoted at $91.51/bbl, as investors position for tomorrow's weekly crude inventories data. Spot gold is higher by +0.85%, last quoted at $805.70/oz. Bargain hunters lifted Shanghai copper prices as risk appetite recovered.

(by Eben Esterhuizen and Gavin Pierce)