Australia's S&P/ASX 200 opened down 11.90 points (-0.13%) at 8,896.20 on Monday, Nov. 2.

Days after a 25bp BOC hike, data show Canadian employment fell 49.6k in August and GDP growth stalled that month, with September likely to contract; the figures imply Q3 annualized GDP near 1.3% versus the BOC’s prior 2% forecast. David Rosenberg, head of Rosenberg Research, said the weak prints challenge expectations of an economic acceleration and questioned whether the central bank can ignore the recent soft data. He added the rate decision looked based on questionable survey signals rather than real activity and that there is no evidence fuel-price rises have passed through to non-energy goods prices.

China fuel oil front-month contract slid 4.00% intraday to 5,215 yuan/ton.