December E-mini S&Ps (ESZ15 +0.12%) are up +0.11% at a 3-week high and European stocks are up +1.27%. Global stocks rose after Thursday’s FOMC minutes from the Sep 16-17 meeting showed the Fed was reluctant to raise interest rates until it could gauge the extent of a China-led economic slowdown. That undercut the dollar which fell to a 3-week low as expectations for a Fed rate increase were pushed back into next year and boosted commodity prices with Nov crude oil(CLX15 +2.02%) up +2.53% at a 2-1/2 month high and Dec gold (GCZ15 +0.82%) up +0.84% at a 1-1/2 month high. Dec copper (HGZ15 +3.16%) is also up +3.61% at a 3-week high on signs of tighter supplies after LME copper inventories fell -250 MT to 305,225 MT, a 7-month low. As a result, mining stocks, energy producers and basic-resource companies are all higher. Limiting the upside in stocks is a -4.6% decline in Alcoa after the company reported Q3 earnings after the close yesterday that missed expectations. Asian stocks settled higher: Japan +1.64%, Hong Kong +0.46%, China +1.27%, Taiwan and South Korea closed for holiday, Australia +1.33%, Singapore +1.75%, India +0.87%

The dollar index (DXY00 -0.54%) is down -0.49% at a 3-week low on the prospects for the Fed to delay an interest rate increase until next year. EUR/USD (^EURUSD) is up +0.81% at a 3-week high. USD/JPY (^USDJPY) is up +0.26%.

Dec T-note prices (ZNZ15 +0.01%) are up +1 tick.

U.S. STOCK PREVIEW

Key U.S. news today includes: (1) Sep import price index (expected -0.5% m/m and -11.2% y/y, Aug -1.8% m/m and -11.4% y/y), (2) Aug wholesale inventories (expected unch m/m, Jul -0.1% m/m) and Aug wholesale trade sales (expected -0.4% m/m, Jul -0.3% m/m), (3) Atlanta Fed President Dennis Lockhart’s speech about the U.S. economic outlook and monetary policy at City University of New York’s Graduate School of Journalism, and (4) Chicago Fed President Charles Evans’ speech titled “A Perspective on Monetary Policy” at an event in Milwaukee, WI.