Today investors’ attention is focused on the US nonfarm payrolls report

Former head of the Fed Robert Heller said: “I think the Federal Reserve is behind the curve. They are starting to reduce the taper a little bit. There shouldn’t be any purchase of mortgage-backed securities in this booming housing market. And the U.S. government doesn’t need any support really either. … I would reduce the asset purchases very quickly within two months or something like that, have it down to zero. And the policy rate I would start to lift right at the beginning of the year to get it back to a normal policy stance that is no longer further stimulating the economy.”

The oral antiviral drug against Covid-19 Molnupiravir from Merck and Ridgeback received approval in the UK.

OPEC+ ministers supported the decision to increase oil production by 400 thousand bpd and refused to increase supplies by 600 – 800 thousand bpd as the US, Japan and India had previously requested. OPEC+ representatives believe that such rates of oil production will be enough to cover demand in winter. Oil reserves will start to rise in December. The next meeting of OPEC+ will be held on December 2, 2021. Oil prices fell sharply amid this news.

The cost of aluminum fell below $2.6 thousand per ton for the first time since August 26.

The world food price index rose by 3% in October compared to September. It has been a record level since July 2011.

Asia-Pacific (APAC) stock indices were mostly decreasing on Friday amid renewed worries about the situation in the Chinese real estate sector. Japan’s Nikkei 225 decreased by 0.61%, China’s blue-chip CSI 300 decreased by 0.54%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng lost 1.69% However, Australia’s ASX 200 was the exception and increased by 0.39%. The Reserve Bank of Australia, in its monetary policy statement today, indicated that recent data and forecasts do not justify an interest rate hike in 2022.