Global stocks index down 0.3; dollar firm
China relaxes COVID rules but imports, exports slump
India hikes rates; Bank of Canada rate announcement due

MILANSINGAPORE, Dec 7 Reuters World stocks eased on Wednesday and bonds remained supported after a chorus of Wall Street bankers warned about a likely recession ahead, tempering optimism about China39;s major shift in its tough zeroCOVID policy.

Top executives at Goldman Sachs, J.P. Morgan and Bank of America all sounded downbeat in remarks on Tuesday about the economic outlook, hurting risk appetite globally and triggering fresh recession signal from bond markets.

Yields have accentuated the downward trend, which is somewhat of a novelty. In previous phases of risk aversion bonds tended to fall along with stocks, precisely because the riskoff mood was driven by fears over inflation and monetary policy, said Giuseppe Sersale, fund manager at Anthilia in Milan.

Now, concerns over economic growth seem to be overtaking those over inflation, he added.

The darkening economic outlook drove fresh safehaven demand for the U.S. dollar on Wednesday and longerdated bonds extended their gains, while oil eased after a sharp fall on Tuesday.

Economic growth is slowing, said Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon. When I talk to our clients, they sound extremely cautious.

A weak start across European equity markets set the panregional STOXX 600 index for its fourth straight session of losses, down 0.1 by 0903 GMT. MSCI39;s broadest…