european stocks rose to start the month as investors awaited us earnings and clarity on the federal reserves interestrate plans the backdrop for the stock markets gains have been impressive earnings according to credit suisse earnings by sp 500 companies have beaten estimates by 10 in the third quarter the fed will announce its latest monetary policy decision on wednesday with expectations it will finally announce the tapering of asset purchases traders will be closely scrutinizing the commentary around its latest actions we expect fed chair jerome powell will not actively push back on market pricing of rate hikes given elevated uncertainty about the outlook particularly as it relates to upside inflation risks said deutsche bank economists led by matthew luzzetti also contributing to an upbeat tone was a weekend deal on steel and aluminum tariffs from the us and european union as well as a convincing win for the ruling ldp party in japan that sent the nikkei 225 higher barclays ceo jes staleys sudden departure amid regulators investigation into his relationship with jeffrey epstein is disappointing shore capital said the ftse 100listed banks ceo has done an excellent job in improving the performance of the group in recent years the brokerage said noting that the lender is in a good financial place however this news dont come as a total surprise with such an investigation happening in the background shore said it is also not the first time mr staleys behavior has come into question following the whistleblowing scandal in 2016 for which he was personally fined over gbp600000 as a result his position has clearly become untenable  shore said shares were down 17 at 19874 pence danone stock was trading around eur57 a share which is approximately a fiveyear low and a level where it should find good valuation support bernstein said as it upgrades the french food company to marketperform from underperform bernstein said its concerns for the sectormostly margin pressure from inflationhave largely dissipated the upgrade comes as the outlook for the european food and household and personalcare industry is improving with earnings growth looking more attractive compared with the downturn in the wider economy the brokerage said most of the potential bad news is wellknown and probably priced in by now it said danone trades 1 higher at eur5694 the latest purchasing managers survey points to a slight acceleration of growth for the uks manufacturing sector but output growth was constrained by severe supplychain disruptions the manufacturing pmi compiled by ihs markit stood at 578 in october up from 571 in september and well above the 500 threshold that separates expansion from contraction the pmi was boosted by improved growth in new orders and employment but manufacturing production rose marginally the report said strained global supply chains are disrupting production schedules while staff shortages and declining intakes of new export work are also stymieing the upturn ihs markits director rob dobson said input price inflation accelerated and output charges rose to the greatest extent on record the report said sp global ratings raising the outlook on italys bbb rating to positive from stable on oct 22 helps to alleviate longerterm nervousness that italy might eventually lose its investment grade rating barclays said the improved outlook also highlights the brightening italian economic picture more broadly barclays said in further positive rating news dbrs on friday affirmed italys bbb high rating and raised the trend to stable from negative to reflect the improvement in italys economic outlook italy is expecting two further reviews by moodys investors service on friday and fitch ratings on dec 3 stock futures edged higher to start the month as investors awaited fresh earnings continued demand for products and services among companies that have reported earnings so far has assuaged some investors concerns that continued supplychain disruptions and rising prices are weighing on consumer demand pge is set to post earnings before the market opens clorox mckesson and simon property group are slated to report after the closing bell i dont see too much concern creeping into the market and thats because earnings season has been a pretty strong one and most companies are seeing strong demand said seema shah chief strategist at principal global investors the purchasingmanagers index for manufacturing is expected to drop to 603 in october from 611 in september when data are released at 10 am etan indication that factories are finding a way to overcome the supply crunch that has made it hard to find raw materials and other inputs the dollar rose and is expected to stay supported ahead of wednesdays meeting of the us federal reserve which is likely to announce the start of assetpurchase tapering ing said the dollar rose significantly on friday partly due to monthend flows but the move also coincided with news of a record quarterly increase in the employment cost index which will no doubt be unnerving some core members of the fomc the bank said this will add to the case for a confident tapering announcement from the fed on wednesday the dxy dollar index has support around 9400 and could reach major resistance at 94559470 on wednesday evening ing said the eurodollar exchange rate could be hit particularly hard by the fed potentially reducing stimulus as the european central bank is unlikely to raise interest rates in 2022 as the market expects ing said our rates strategy team certainly think that the 20 basis points of ecb tightening expected for the fourth quarter of 2022 looks one of the most mispriced stories in money markets today ing analysts say that should mean that eurusd does take the strain from more hawkish fed policy eurusd could test the 11500 support level this week the analysts say a close below that level could pave the way for eurusd to reach 113 they say eurusd is last flat at 11568 sterling fell as investors adjust their positions before thursdays bank of england meeting with nervousness creeping in that money markets may have been overenthusiastic in pricing in interestrate increases ing said the market expects the boe to raise interest rates on thursday followed by further tightening ing analysts said we are in the camp arguing that the boe will struggle to deliver on all the hawkish pricing packed into the gbp money market curve and that eurgbp can correct up to the 08500 area on thursday given the dollar should strengthen this week gbpusd could fall towards 1357013600 they said sterling also has to cope with the ukfrance fishing dispute they said the concrete announcement of a tapering of asset purchases by the fed will no longer affect the markets birgit henseler analyst at dz bank said the fed has wellprepared financial markets for this event in homeopathic doses for almost half a year she said the specification of the tapering process should therefore not trigger any major market reactions henseler said major market reactions could only be expected if fed chair jerome powell were not able to calm inflation concerns and dampen market expectations of a quick interest rate rise she said eurozone government bonds recovered some of the loss suffered in selloffs thursday and friday even as the market remains focused on the prospect of tighter monetary policy analysts said monetary policy tightening remains the key market focus and starts impacting inflation expectations while flattening dynamics remain intact and periphery spreads are getting nervous said commerzbanks rates strategist rainer guntermann he said trend reversals seem unlikely though ahead of the crucial decisions anticipated from the fed and the bank of england oil prices rose after brent ended last week with its first weekly loss since early september amid weakness in broader energy marketsbenchmark european gas prices are down 19 from their level this time last week  that came after reports that russian president vladimir putin ordered gazprom to fill up european storage from nov 8 said ings warren patterson meanwhile opecwhich meets later this weekis coming under pressure to increase output more aggressively despite the white houses overtures on that front it looks as though the group will try to resist being more aggressiveand stick to increasing output by 400000 barrels a day per month patterson said gold prices were little changed as the precious metal continues to hew its narrow range technical signals suggest golds long period of listless trading could end soon however bob minter director of investment strategy for etfs at abrdn said gold has gone from a really wide price range to a very narrow price rangethat tighter and tighter range usually resolves itself with a big move he said gold is likely to find support from inflation concerns even once the fed begins raising interest rates because higher rates would have little effect on supply bottlenecks he said would a 25 basis point rate hike really affect the supply shortages that have been driving inflation minter said base metals dropped as traders parse mixed chinese economic data official and private gauges of chinese manufacturing activity released sunday and monday respectively painted conflicting pictures private sector caixin manufacturing pmi data rebounded in october reaching its strongest level since june that contrasts with official data that showed activity fell for a second straight month missing economists forecasts chinese officials pointed to power shortages and soaring rawmaterials prices as being behind the drop