OECD says no recession, but slow and low growth [Video]

The OECD said the global economy will avoid a recession this year, and next year, and that unemployment rates won’t skyrocket. That was the good news.

But growth will be low and slow, and inflation will remain high, keeping central bank policies tight. That was the bad news.

The S&P500 gained, as strong earnings from retailers improved sentiment before Thanksgiving. Energy stocks performed well on the back of a sustained recovery in crude oil.

Shell rallied 5% on announcement that the company will be reviewing its investment in the UK to avoid paying windfall taxes to the British government. BP rallied 6.52%.

In central bank news, the Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) raised its rates by 75bp as expected today. The US dollar softened, and the EURUSD rebounded past 1.0320 in the middle of mixed comments about what the European Central Bank (ECB) should do at its next meeting.

In precious metals, gold slid yesterday despite a softer US dollar, and softer yields.

In China, stocks were not looking good as Beijing and Shanghai put stricter rules to slow the Covid contagion, again! But Alibaba rebounded almost 4% in HK today, on news that Ant Group would pay a fine over a billion USD.

In cryptocurrencies, traders remain on the edge, on news that a ‘substantial amount’ of FTX assets have either been stolen or are missing. Bitcoin however resists. The price of a coin recovered above $16K yesterday, but risks remain tilted to the downside.