"Whether this bounce will continue remains to be seen, but it has given China equities a shot in the arm." S&P 500 futures and Nasdaq futures both edged up 0.1%, while stocks in Europe opened on a strong footing. "The soft landing crowd will be pleased that the labour market is softening without much stress at the moment," Deutsche Bank strategist Jim Reid. Any path to a hard landing, outside of a shock, has to go via signs of a soft landing first," he said. Brent crude futures were steady on the day at $88.50 a barrel, while U.S. futures were also flat at $85.55.

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Persons: Jim Reid, Christine Lagarde, Wayne Cole, Shri Navaratnam, Muralikumar Anantharaman, Simon Cameron, Moore Organizations: Federal Reserve, Country Garden, RBC Capital Markets, Holdings, Nasdaq, drugmaker Novo Nordisk, August's U.S, Deutsche Bank, European Central Bank, Brent, Thomson Locations: U.S, China, SYDNEY, United States, Beijing, Shanghai, Asia, Pacific, Japan, Europe, drugmaker Novo, Canada, Australia, Saudi Arabia