The mood improves

<p>Kia ora,</p><p>Welcome to Tuesday’s Economy Watch where we follow the economic events and trends that affect Aotearoa/New Zealand.</p><p>I'm David Chaston and this is the International edition from Interest.co.nz.</p><p>Today we lead with we have an Omicron bounce in markets today, reversing the Omicron fall over the past ten days. Markets seem convinced the new virus strain will not upend markets in the way they first feared.</p><p>There is a general risk-on mood in most global markets, although that is not evident in Asian markets.</p><p>In the US, a senior Treasury official said it is about to crack down on "criminals, kleptocrats and others" paying cash for houses to launder money as part of a broader anti-corruption drive.</p><p><a href="https://www.destatis.de/EN/Press/2021/12/PE21_553_421.html" target="_blank"><strong>German factory orders slumped</strong></a> in October after a small rise in the prior month. This was a retreat far sharper than expected. In was driven by a sharp fall in export orders, which were down -13% on an annualised basis.</p><p>An <a href="https://power.lowyinstitute.org/" target="_blank"><strong>updated ranking of the 'power' influence</strong></a> among 26 Asian-related countries shows that <a href="https://power.lowyinstitute.org/countries/new-zealand/" target="_blank"><strong>New Zealand</strong></a> slipped -1 place to 13th, above Taiwan, but lower than Vietnam. Australia is #6 and slipped as well. The big mover is <a href="https://power.lowyinstitute.org/countries/china/" target="_blank"><strong>China</strong></a> #2 which recorded its first-ever retreat and is now further behind the <a href="https://power.lowyinstitute.org/countries/united-states/" target="_blank"><strong>US</strong></a> which is still #1 and rising. Overall, Asian power fell in 2021 on a global basis.</p><p>In a meeting with the head of the IMF, Chinese premier Li Keqiang was at pains to point out that they will likely cut their reserve requirement ratio (RRR) rates if the property slowdown requires polic