Investors felt some relief Monday as Asian stocks rose, easing worries that inflation and slowing economic growth were inevitably closing in.

Japan and Australia were up more than 1%. Bonds in both New Zealand and Australia were up, extending a recent rally in government debt. Treasury futures rose slightly but there is no cash trading on account of a US holiday.

Crude slipped slightly to $108, Bitcoin remained just about the $19,000 level, and a dollar gauge slipped.

From personal spending to manufacturing, signs of economic weakness are creeping up in the US. Investors are gradually coming to believe the question is not if a recession will happen or not, but rather it is how bad the recession will be. This is drawing attention away from rising inflation.

Chris Weston, head of research at Pepperstone Group, wrote in a note that the market’s psychology was, “shifting radically from inflation concerns to one now where we’re firmly focused on growth.”

In China, the number of Covid cases continued to increase over the weekend. That is raising the question of whether China was willing to sacrifice its economy, and continue to snarl global supply chains by locking down again if the case numbers do not come down, or if they were willing to live with the virus, and allow their society to open back up.

Chinese developer Shimao Group Holdings Ltd. said it had failed to pay a $1 billion note which came due on Sunday, in yet another offshore bond delinquency.