The S&P 500, Dow Jones Industrial Average and Nasdaq Composite indexes reached all-time highs after China said over the weekend that it will tighten intellectual property rules, a move aimed at boosting the chances of a trade deal between the two largest economies. Tech shares led the gains. Charles Schwab Corp. agreed to buy TD Ameritrade Holding Corp., while LVMH purchased U.S. jeweler Tiffany & Co.

“I don’t think we would be seeing these types of deals if the outlook for markets and the economy weren’t favorable,” said Adam Phillips, director of portfolio strategy for EP Wealth Advisors. “This is one additional piece we can look at to see the outlook for markets is a positive one.”

The Stoxx Europe 600 index advanced, with all 19 industry sectors closing in the green. Equities climbed across Asia, led by those in Hong Kong, where local elections brought a landslide victory to pro-democracy candidates. The dollar gained versus the euro and yen.

While doubts about the rally remain and haven investments such as bonds seem well-supported, stocks globally are approaching a third month of gains. The S&P 500 index is building on an advance from Friday, when President Donald Trump said he was “very close” to a trade pact with Chinese President Xi Jinping, even as Treasuries hold on to most of their two-week surge.

“Markets are relatively optimistic about a phase one trade deal happening, but obviously there’s more uncertainty until President Trump and President Xi sit down and sign something more formal,” said Yung-Yu Ma, chief investment strategist at BMO Wealth Management.

Elsewhere, China was planning a record sale of sovereign bonds in dollars, with a potential $6 billion offering, according to people familiar with the discussions. West Texas-grade oil futures drifted higher. Bitcoin dropped as much as 11% before paring the decline.

Here are some key events coming up this week:

–Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell speaks on Monday at the Greater Providence Chamber of Commerce annual dinner in Providence, Rhode Island.

–Alibaba starts trading in Hong Kong on Tuesday.

–Reserve Bank of Australia Governor Philip Lowe will give a speech on unconventional monetary policy on Tuesday evening in Sydney.

–U.S. consumer spending data is due Wednesday, along with GDP, jobless claims and durable goods.

–The U.S. celebrates Thanksgiving on Thursday, when equity and bond markets will be shut.

–The Bank of Korea sets policy on Friday.

These are the main moves in markets:

Stocks

–The S&P 500 index advanced 0.75% to close at 3,133.64, the highest on record with the largest gain in more than a week.

–The Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 0.7% to 28,065.39, the highest on record with the biggest gain in more than a week.

–The Nasdaq Composite index surged 1.3% to 8,632.49, the highest on record with the largest jump in more than six weeks.

–The MSCI All-Country World index advanced 0.7% to 547.17, the highest in 22 months on the biggest gain in more than a week.

Currencies

–The Bloomberg Dollar Spot index was little changed at 1,207.43, hitting the highest in six weeks with its fifth straight advance.

–The euro fell 0.1% to $1.1011, the weakest in more than a week.

–The Japanese yen depreciated 0.3% to 108.94 per dollar, the weakest in almost two weeks on the largest fall in more than a week.

–The British pound jumped 0.5% to $1.2902, the first advance in a week and the biggest increase in two weeks.

Bonds

–The yield on two-year Treasuries declined one basis point to 1.62%.

–The yield on 10-year Treasuries dipped one basis point to 1.76%.

–Germany’s 10-year yield climbed one basis point to -0.35%.

–Britain’s 10-year yield fell one basis point to 0.696%, the lowest in more than three weeks.

Commodities

–Gold depreciated 0.5% to $1,454.95 an ounce, the weakest in more than 16 weeks.

–West Texas Intermediate crude advanced 0.4% to $57.98 a barrel.

–Copper gained 0.1% to $2.66 a pound.

The new package follows the scheme on consumption and tourism, known as “Eat, Shop, Spend”, which the government has been implementing.

Uttama’s announcement comes as the economy suffers slower growth – it grew just 2.4 per cent in the third quarter.

The package will cover four key areas.

The government wants to stimulate spending upcountry, the finance minister said. The package will also aim to boost investment in provincial areas via village and community funds, he added.

Additionally, the government will support people who want to own homes, he said.

Farmers will also receive subsidies for expenses on harvesting rice, Uttama said.

“The package will boost the economy in the fourth quarter and in the long term,” he said.

Moreover, it will help the Thai economy to be immune to external uncertainties, he noted.

Uttama was optimistic that the package would encourage banks to lend more to support businesses.

The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite Indexes climbed to all-time highs after China said it will tighten intellectual property rules, a move aimed at boosting the chances of a trade deal between the two largest economies. Charles Schwab Corp. agreed to buy TD Ameritrade Holding Corp., while LVMH purchased U.S. jeweler Tiffany & Co.

“The market’s momentum is compelling more M&A activity,” said David Sowerby, managing director at Ancora Advisors. “That’s a validation of the momentum being favorable, that companies are doing deals and acquisitions.”

The Stoxx Europe 600 Index advanced, with all 19 industry sectors in the green. Equities climbed across Asia, led by those in Hong Kong, where local elections brought a landslide victory to pro-democracy candidates. The dollar was mixed against most of its major peers and weakened versus the British pound.

While doubts about the rally remain and haven investments such as bonds seem well-supported, stocks globally are approaching a third month of gains. The S&P 500 Index is building on an advance from Friday, when President Donald Trump said he was “very close” to a trade pact, even as Treasuries hold on to most of their two-week surge.

“Markets are relatively optimistic about a phase one trade deal happening, but obviously there’s more uncertainty until President Trump and President Xi sit down and sign something more formal,” said Yung-Yu Ma, chief investment strategist at BMO Wealth Management.

Elsewhere, China was planning a record sale of sovereign bonds in dollars, with a potential $6 billion offering, according to people familiar with the discussions. West Texas-grade oil futures drifted. Bitcoin dropped as much as 11% before paring the decline.

These are the main moves in markets:

Stocks:

– The S&P 500 Index advanced 0.7% to 3,130.67 as of 10:44 a.m. New York time, the highest on record with the largest gain in more than a week.

– The Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 0.5% to 28,018.94, the highest in a week on the biggest gain in more than a week.

– The Nasdaq Composite Index surged 1.2% to 8,620.67, the highest on record with the largest jump in almost six weeks.

– The MSCI All-Country World Index advanced 0.7% to 546.95, the highest in 22 months on the biggest gain in more than a week.

Currencies:

– The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was little changed at 1,207.20, hitting the highest in six weeks with its fifth straight advance.

– The euro fell 0.1% to $1.1014, the weakest in more than a week.

– The Japanese yen depreciated 0.2% to 108.89 per dollar, the weakest in almost two weeks on the largest fall in more than a week.

– The British pound jumped 0.5% to $1.2902, the first advance in a week and the biggest increase in two weeks.

Bonds:

– The yield on two-year Treasuries fell one basis point to 1.62%.

– The yield on 10-year Treasuries decreased one basis point to 1.76%.

– Germany’s 10-year yield gained one basis point to -0.35%.

– Britain’s 10-year yield dipped one basis point to 0.691%, the lowest in more than three weeks.

Commodities:

– Gold depreciated 0.2% to $1,458.76 an ounce, the weakest in almost two weeks.

– West Texas Intermediate crude decreased 0.3% to $57.59 a barrel.

– Copper was little changed at $2.66 a pound.

However, there were still some major issues requiring close monitoring. including a decline in employment, an increase in alcoholic beverage and cigarette expenditures, and an increase in criminal cases due to increasing narcotic usage.

Little impact on labour market

In Q3/2019, the employment decreased by 2.1 per cent year-over-year. Employment in agricultural sector decreased by 1.8 per cent which was a continuous decline for the third quarter from inclement weather.

Employment in non-agricultural sectors also decreased by 2.3 per cent due to the economic slowdown and the decline of exports.

Economic sectors that recorded lower employments included manufacturing sector, wholesale/retail and construction, down by 5.2, 4.1, and 2.2 per cent respectively.

Meanwhile, employments in hotel/restaurant and transportation/storage sectors increased by 3.1 and 1 per cent respectively as a result of the higher number of tourists.

Overall labor wages slightly increased to Bt14,334/month while the average wage for private sector was equal to Bt12,847/month, accounting for increases of 1.8 and 2.5 per cent respectively.

When deducting inflation at 0.6 per cent, the real wages of the private sector increased by 1.9 per cent. Labour productivity (Gross domestic product per worker) had a value of Bt69,329 per person, an increase of 4.6 per cent.

Meanwhile, the unemployment rate stood at 1.04 per cent or 0.394 million people, slightly increased by 5.5 per cent year-over-year.

The increase was mainly attributed to the economic slowdown and inclement weather.

Unemployment increased for those who have worked before and those who have never worked, by 8.4 and 3 per cent respectively, partly due to the season when new graduates entered the labour market.

When considering unemployment according to education level, it was found that those who completed bachelor degree had the highest unemployment rate at 2.15 per cent, followed by vocational graduates, high vocational graduates, lower secondary school graduates, upper secondary school graduates, and primary school or lower graduates.

The employment trends in Q4/2019 show that the economic slowdown has not shown much impact on the labour market. By looking at the Labour Force Survey in October 2019, the unemployment rate is still low at 0.9 per cent or equivalent to 0.355 million unemployed.

Although the total labour force and employment decreased by 1.7 and 1.6 per cent respectively, it was because they were those moving out of the labor force, especially the elderly and houseworkers who enter the labor force occasionally.

It was found that there were 19.2 million people who were outside the labour force and it was increased by 5.1 per cent.

In addition, the structure of the Thai labour market is flexible, with workers who are laid off in the formal system able to easily move to work in the informal sector, especially by moving to the agricultural sector.

However, there are signs of effects of the economic slowdown which must be followed up closely:

1. The number of unemployment benefit applicants has continuously increased. At the end of Q3/2019, they accounted for 1.72 hundred thousand persons or 1.5 per cent of the total number of insured persons under Section 33, the highest since the economic crisis in 2009 which recorded 2.2 per cent of all insured persons.

2. Domestic and foreign orders declined. The business index in domestic orders declined continuously for the 11th consecutive month while foreign orders continued to decrease for the sixth quarter, which may affect employment in the export-goods manufacturing industry.

3. A reduction of working overtime: the number of employed persons over 50 hours decreased by 7.9 per cent in Q3/2019 which is a continuous decline since Q4/2016 onwards.

4. Firms requesting to use Section 75 in accordance with the 1998 Labour Protection Act, as amended 2008 (as a measure that allows companies to temporarily stop work by paying a minimum wage to employees more than 75 percent of wages): By Q3/2019, there were 48,015 affected workers from 93 firms nationwide, divided into 21,297 people who were affected by partial business closures and 26,718 people who were affected by complete business closures.

Issues in focus

1. Closely monitoring the employment termination situation and monitoring of workers receiving compensation for termination of employment as specified by law. Affected workers should be facilitated such as organising labour markets, promoting job applications and job opportunities.

2. Implementing measures to alleviate the effects that may occur on labor such as:

• Asking for cooperation from firms in order to delay layoffs, such as reducing working hours/days, or pausing firm operations in accordance with Article 75. Voluntary resignation with employment termination should be the last resort.

Household debt

Total household debt in Q2/2019 amounted to Bt13.08 trillion, expanding by 5.8 per cent, which decelerated from 6.3 per cent in the previous quarter. It accounted for 78.7 per cent of the GDP due to the economy in Q2 decelerating faster than household debt.

When considered by each category, it was found that housing loans grew by 7.8 per cent, decelerated from 9.1 percent in the previous quarter. Likewise, loans for automobiles slowed down by 10.2 percent from 11.4 percent.

Loans for other personal consumption increased continually, grew by 11.8 per cent compared to 11.3 per cent in the previous quarter as a result of the expansion of both credit card loans and other personal loans.

The overall credit quality is within the surveillance criteria since many credit types have increased risks. The non-performing loan (NPL) outstanding amount of commercial banks in the Q3/2019 was Bt133,254 million, an increase of 12.2 per cent from the same period last year, representing 2.81 per cent of total loans.

The NPL ratio of housing loans stood at 3.49 per cent, up from 3.34 per cent in the previous quarter. For car loans, the NPL ratio increased to 1.86 per cent from 1.82 per cent in the previous quarter.

NPL ratio of credit card loans was 2.65 per cent compared to 2.48 per cent in the previous quarter while the NPL ratio of other personal loans stood at 2.36 per cent, down from 2.42 per cent.

The details will soon be submitted to the Energy Policy Administration Committee and the National Energy Policy Council.

He added that the project had received enthusiastic interest from local administrative organisations and private companies.

The community plants will come in the format of very small power plants (VSPP) with generation capacity of 10 megawatts each, costing Bt100 million per MW. The ministry targets a total of 1,000 MW.

He added that the project was expected to generate at least Bt100 billion into the grassroot economic system.

Construction is expected to commence in 2022, Sontirat said.