Hello It’s Thursday November 16 and you’re on the ABC Business and Markets live blog – it’s great to see you.

Our day may have just begun here, but overnight there were some pretty solid developments in the US and UK.

Start in the United States and continue trading Wall Street has just ended after a very positive evening.

THE S&P500, Dow Jones And Nasdaq are all trading higher, thanks to the continued positive momentum after these inflation figures better than expected outside the United States the evening before last.

But the American markets were not only at such a high level. From one day to the next, the PPI (or Producer Price Index, if you’re not familiar with the jargon) fell 0.5% — the biggest drop since April 2020.

This resulted in an increase in the PPI of only 1.3% over one year, while retail sales data in the United States, there was also a slight decline, down 0.1%.

And speaking of retail, some of the positivity on Wall Street comes from Target after his financial results were better than expected. Per share, earnings were $2.10, well above the $1.48 expected.

The retail giant is also forecasting better fourth-quarter profits as supply chain costs continue to decline, pleasing investors’ ears.

Crossing the Atlantic, and European markets also had a positive session despite industrial production down 1.1%.

The big news, however, was an encouraging decline in inflation in the UK. From year to year, inflation fell to 4.6% — the lowest in two years.

Unfortunately, this positivity is not contagious, with the forecast for the ASX looking as bleak as the current weather in Brisbane (for reference, it’s just gray clouds outside my office window).

Despite a probably weaker start to the day, the day promises to be important, with employment data for October out to 11:30 a.m. AEDT.

Still with me? That’s the spirit: grab a coffee or other morning beverage of your choice and let’s see how the day goes.