Stocks and commodity markets rallied on Thursday on news of an expansion in manufacturing in China, which is the world's biggest user of commodities. A few weeks back I wrote that weakness in Chinese shares was one of the factors weighing on commodity markets (along with a stronger dollar). With the dollar looking overbought and vulnerable to profit-taking, attention is now turning to China. And the news there is good. Chart 1 shows the China iShares (FXI) surging 2.5% on Thursday to the highest level in three months. The FXI has also broken a five-month resistance line. That's giving a strong boost to Emerging Market iShares (Chart 2) which are soaring (thanks also to big gains in Brazil, India, and Russia).