By Herbert Lash and Amanda Cooper NEW YORK/LONDON (Reuters) – Equity markets rose and the dollar slid on Monday as investors embraced the idea that China may ease COVID restrictions and burnished hopes the U.S. economy is slowing enough to allow the Federal Reserve to ease its aggressive hiking of interest rates. Markets looked past both data showing Chinese exports and imports unexpectedly contracted in October as China grapples with COVID-19 curbs and the likelihood the U.S. consumer price index on Thursday will show inflation remains high. U.S. stocks rallied as investors weighed the outcom…