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Good morning. The soaring dollar causes alarm in Asia, Chinese property developers soar and Europe’s stagflation fears reignite. Here’s what [View in browser]( [Bloomberg]( Good morning. The soaring dollar causes alarm in Asia, Chinese property developers soar and Europe’s stagflation fears reignite. Here’s what’s moving markets. Currency Alarm The renewed advance in the US dollar is [raising alarm in Asian countries]( as currencies there fell to multi-month lows, prompting authorities in Japan and China to step up defense of their beleaguered exchange rates. Japan issued its strongest warning in weeks against rapid declines in the yen, with its top currency official saying the nation is ready to take action amid speculative moves in the market — the currency pulled back from a 10-month low after those comments from Masato Kanda, vice finance minister for international affairs. “If these moves continue, the government will deal with them appropriately without ruling out any options,” he said. China’s central bank also offered some of its most forceful guidance with its daily reference rate for the yuan, as the managed currency weakened toward a level unseen since 2007. Chinese Property Speculative bets that Chinese authorities will widen support for its property sector sent some of the country’s ailing developers surging. Sunac China Holdings Ltd. jumped 68% in heavy trading, while China Evergrande Group closed up 83% — the biggest gain since its 2009 listing. A Bloomberg Intelligence gauge tracking Chinese builders gained nearly 10% on Wednesday, the most in more than a month. The sudden upturn comes after August’s rout, when the property sector showed signs of deepening financial problems. Authorities have been introducing [bolder measures in recent weeks]( to put a floor under the crisis, including lower down payments and looser mortgage rules for some homebuyers. Europe Stagflation Elevated oil prices and weak economic data from Germany reignited stagflation concerns across the euro area, causing [European stocks to extend their slide](. The Stoxx 600 index retreated 0.6%, falling for the sixth straight session after German factory orders plummeted. Brent crude prices approached $90 per barrel after the largest OPEC+ oil producers extended their supply cuts to year-end. The weakness in Europe and deepening signs of an economic slowdown in China also piled pressure on equity futures in the US. “The euro zone and UK are dabbling with recession, which markets had forgotten about three months ago,” said Rupert Thompson, chief economist at Kingswood Holdings Ltd. Risk Off S&P 500 futures fell 0.2% and Nasdaq 100 contracts slid 0.4% as of 5:38 a.m. In New York. The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index edged higher along with the Japanese yen, while oil-linked currencies retreated as Brent crude slid. Treasury yields were little changed in a lackluster day for bond markets. Gold fell for a second day, while Bitcoin climbed for the first time in three days. Coming Up… Data on US trade is due at 8:30 a.m. New York time and the latest services report from the Institute for Supply Management will be released a few hours later. The Federal Reserve will publish its Beige Book economic survey at 2 p.m, which may shed more light on the strength of consumer spending. Boston Fed President Susan Collins speaks on the economy at New England Council in Boston, while Dallas Fed President Lorie Logan will take part in a community listening session in Lubbock, Texas. Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey and three fellow policy-makers will testify to the UK parliament’s Treasury Select Committee from about 9:15 a.m. New York time. What We’ve Been Reading This is what’s caught our eye over the past 24 hours. - Donald Trump maps out [harsher trade policies]( and tax cuts - IRS delays 401(k) change which could affect [high earners]( - Republican hopeful [Ramaswamy’s fund]( crosses $1 billion in assets - India’s Modi renames his country to [ancient Sanskrit word]( - Fed offloads [$1 trillion of bond holdings]( with no sign of strain - Renting an Airbnb in New York just [got a lot harder]( - Can you [name these global cities]( with just demographic data? And finally, here's what Joe’s interested in this morning The trajectory of the US economy remains highly ambiguous. There's enough data out there to support just about any narrative, from soft landing, to recession, to ongoing overheating. One thing that seems clear, however, is that as of right now, the US still has more momentum and activity than just about anywhere else in the world. Yesterday we got the latest PMIs out of Europe, and they were almost all quite weak, not only declining from the previous month, but coming in lower than the preliminary numbers from the middle of last month. Here's one nice way to view the US-Europe gap. The Citi Economic Surprise Index shows the degree to which data is coming in either better or worse than expectations. In the US, data continues to solidly surprise on the upside. In Europe, it's deeply the other way. As such, the gap between the two measures is unusually wide right now. It's come in a little bit since earlier in the summer, but as the green line shows, US outperformance is still higher than almost any time in the last 5 years. It's no surprise that the US dollar [has been on a bit of a tear]( again lately. Source: Citi Economic Surprise Index Follow Bloomberg's Joe Weisenthal on Twitter [@TheStalwart]( Like Bloomberg's Five Things? [Subscribe for unlimited access]( to trusted, data-based journalism in 120 countries around the world and gain expert analysis from exclusive daily newsletters, The Bloomberg Open and The Bloomberg Close. Follow Us Like getting this newsletter? [Subscribe to Bloomberg.com]( for unlimited access to trusted, data-driven journalism and subscriber-only insights. Before it’s here, it’s on the Bloomberg Terminal. Find out more about how the Terminal delivers information and analysis that financial professionals can’t find anywhere else. [Learn more](. Want to sponsor this newsletter? [Get in touch here](. You received this message because you are subscribed to Bloomberg's Five Things to Start Your Day: Americas Edition newsletter. If a friend forwarded you this message, [sign up here]( to get it in your inbox. 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