11-14-2008, 12:57 AM
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>A look at economic developments around the worldebpage</b>Â
Thursday November 13, 1:21 pm ET
By The Associated PressÂ
A look at economic developments, activity in stock markets around the world Thursday
A look at economic developments and stock market activity around the world Thursday:
<b>LONDON --</b> The pound fell to a six-and-a-half year low against the dollar and a record low against the euro amid mounting fears about the length and depth of the British recession and market talk that the Bank of England could cut interest rates to as low as 1 percent over the next few months. Meanwhile, BT Group, the country's largest phone company said would slash 6,000 more jobs by March on top of 4,000 already made. BT also said quarterly earnings rose 18 percent. The FTSE 100 index of leading British shares closed down 12.81 points at 4,169.21.
<b>MOSCOW --</b> Russia's battered stock markets suffered another chaotic day of trading Thursday, as regulators shut the exchanges in response to falling share prices then reopened them after initial gains on European markets. The MICEX closed 7.6 percent down, at 598.4 points. The other main exchange, RTS, dropped 2.4 percent to 620 points.
<b>BERLIN --</b> The German economy, Europe's biggest, tipped into recession in the third quarter as weakening exports fueled a bigger-than-expected fall in national output, government figures showed. Gross domestic product contracted by 0.5 percent in the July-September period, following a 0.4 percent fall in GDP in the second quarter, which was the first decline since late 2004. Meanwhile, industrial conglomerate Siemens AG reported a net loss of 2.4 billion euros ($3 billion) for its fiscal fourth quarter, weighed down by large one-time charges that included money set aside for costs related to a bribery investigation. The DAX finished 28.72 points higher at 4,649.52 despite confirmation that Europe's biggest economy is officially in recession.
<b>PARIS --</b> The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development said the world's developed economies, hard hit by the financial crisis, have already entered a recession that will last at least through the first half of 2009. Gross domestic product was likely to fall by 0.3 percent in 2009 for its 30 member countries, the OECD said. The U.S. economy would contract next year by 0.9 percent, Japan's by 0.1 percent and the euro area by 0.5 percent. Meanwhile, the International Energy Agency made new cuts to its global oil demand forecasts for this year and next as rich-world economies sink into recession and growth slows in the developing countries. The agency now expects global oil demand to average 86.2 million barrels a day this year, nearly flat compared to 2007, and 86.5 million barrels a day next year. The CAC-40 in France closed up 1.1 percent, or 35.5 points, to 3269.46.
<b>TOKYO --</b> Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 stock average fell 456.87 points, or 5.3 percent, to 8,238.64. Elsewhere, South Korea's main Kospi index fell 3.2 percent to close at 1,088.44 after earlier falling as much as 7.4 percent. So far this year, the index has declined 42.6 percent.
<b>BEIJING --</b> Growth in China's industrial output slowed to 8.2 percent in October, down from 11.4 percent in September and the lowest in seven years, adding to signs an economic downturn is worsening as Beijing rushes to launch a 4 trillion yuan ($586 billion) stimulus package. The Shanghai Composite Index bucked lower Asian equities, jumping 3.7 percent to 1,927.61.
<b>AMSTERDAM, Netherlands -- </b>SNS Reaal NV, a Dutch financial services company will receive a 750 million euro ($934 million) lifeline from the government to shore up its capital position amid the financial crisis. SNS will be the third Dutch company to take government money in a month, following the larger ING Groep NV and Aegon NV. The Netherlands AEX index settled up by less than 1 percent at 249.96.
<b>HONG KONG -- </b>An investigation will be launched into the sale of financial products linked to collapsed U.S. investment bank Lehman Brothers after lawmakers voted overwhelmingly for a probe. Meanwhile, the head of the Carlyle Group, one of the world's largest private investment firms, said Asia has surpassed the U.S. to become the world's most attractive place for investment given its strong economic growth. In other news, Citic Pacific Ltd., the Hong Kong arm of a Chinese government investment company, said it has secured a $1.5 billion bailout from its parent company to cover losses from bad currency bets. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index dived 5.2 percent to 13,221.35.
<b>MEXICO CITY --</b> Mexico's Congress approved a 3 trillion peso ($231 billion) spending portion in its 2009 budget Wednesday, a bid to jump-start an economy suffering from a global credit crunch and the U.S. economic slowdown. It is an increase of more than 13 percent over last year.
<b>KUWAIT CITY --</b> Trading on Kuwait's hard-hit stock exchange was halted by court order on Thursday, a move cheered by many traders but criticized by the government and other investors who urged their privileged countrymen to stop acting like a "spoiled baby." The ruling will remain in effect until another court hearing on Monday.
<b>CANBERRA, Australia --</b> Rewarding senior finance executives with big salaries for taking big risks was "dumb," Australia's prime minister said. Meanwhile, shareholders of St. George Bank Ltd. approved a 16 billion Australian dollar ($10 billion) takeover by bigger rival Westpac Banking Corp., creating the country's second-biggest bank by assets. Australia's benchmark index slid 5.9 percent to a four-year closing low of 3,697.3 as banks tumbled and lower commodity prices hit miners.
<b>MACAU --</b> Struggling casino operator Las Vegas Sands Corp. will lay off as many as 11,000 workers after a cash crunch forced the company to halt construction on multibillion dollar projects in the Chinese gambling city.
<b>NEW DELHI --</b> India, Thailand and five other South and Southeast Asian nations urged the G-20 to strengthen the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and regional banks to help developing countries weather the global economic meltdown. Reluctance by international institutions to lend money to developing countries would make it difficult for some of them to manage their balance of payments positions, said Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. Meanwhile, the wholesale price index, India's most-watched inflation measure, eased to 9 percent for the week ended Nov. 1, down from 10.7 percent for the prior week. Falling commodities prices helped cool India's inflation, which has been running near a 13-year high. Indian financial markets were closed for a national holiday.
<b>GENEVA -- </b>China has agreed to loosen controls on financial news providers in an out-of-court settlement of a dispute with the United State, the European Union and Canada. China, which has since 2006 required foreign news companies to funnel their data through the state's own agency, will set up an independent regulator next year to create a level playing field for financial information providers.
<b>BRUSSELS, Belgium </b>-- The European Union began talks with Libya about a cooperation pact, which could be concluded in 2009. More than 90 percent of Libya's oil exports go to Europe. The agreement would open up trade and increase economic and political cooperation. It would be similar to deals the EU has with other countries in North Africa and the Middle East.
<b>SAO PAULO, Brazil --</b> Latin American stocks continued to fall after being battered a day earlier over fears that the region is being hit hard by the global economic slowdown. Brazil's Ibovespa index dropped 1.4 percent. Mexico's IPC index slipped less than 1 percent, while Argentina's Merval index fell 2.2 percent.
<b>NEW YORK --</b> Asserting the global financial crisis is "not a failure of the free market," President George W. Bush called on the world leaders meeting this weekend to agree on a modest set of reforms aimed at preventing future collapses. Bush's main message to the leaders about to converge on Washington: Reforms won't help if they overreach by abandoning the free market and restricting trade.
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Thursday November 13, 1:21 pm ET
By The Associated PressÂ
A look at economic developments, activity in stock markets around the world Thursday
A look at economic developments and stock market activity around the world Thursday:
<b>LONDON --</b> The pound fell to a six-and-a-half year low against the dollar and a record low against the euro amid mounting fears about the length and depth of the British recession and market talk that the Bank of England could cut interest rates to as low as 1 percent over the next few months. Meanwhile, BT Group, the country's largest phone company said would slash 6,000 more jobs by March on top of 4,000 already made. BT also said quarterly earnings rose 18 percent. The FTSE 100 index of leading British shares closed down 12.81 points at 4,169.21.
<b>MOSCOW --</b> Russia's battered stock markets suffered another chaotic day of trading Thursday, as regulators shut the exchanges in response to falling share prices then reopened them after initial gains on European markets. The MICEX closed 7.6 percent down, at 598.4 points. The other main exchange, RTS, dropped 2.4 percent to 620 points.
<b>BERLIN --</b> The German economy, Europe's biggest, tipped into recession in the third quarter as weakening exports fueled a bigger-than-expected fall in national output, government figures showed. Gross domestic product contracted by 0.5 percent in the July-September period, following a 0.4 percent fall in GDP in the second quarter, which was the first decline since late 2004. Meanwhile, industrial conglomerate Siemens AG reported a net loss of 2.4 billion euros ($3 billion) for its fiscal fourth quarter, weighed down by large one-time charges that included money set aside for costs related to a bribery investigation. The DAX finished 28.72 points higher at 4,649.52 despite confirmation that Europe's biggest economy is officially in recession.
<b>PARIS --</b> The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development said the world's developed economies, hard hit by the financial crisis, have already entered a recession that will last at least through the first half of 2009. Gross domestic product was likely to fall by 0.3 percent in 2009 for its 30 member countries, the OECD said. The U.S. economy would contract next year by 0.9 percent, Japan's by 0.1 percent and the euro area by 0.5 percent. Meanwhile, the International Energy Agency made new cuts to its global oil demand forecasts for this year and next as rich-world economies sink into recession and growth slows in the developing countries. The agency now expects global oil demand to average 86.2 million barrels a day this year, nearly flat compared to 2007, and 86.5 million barrels a day next year. The CAC-40 in France closed up 1.1 percent, or 35.5 points, to 3269.46.
<b>TOKYO --</b> Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 stock average fell 456.87 points, or 5.3 percent, to 8,238.64. Elsewhere, South Korea's main Kospi index fell 3.2 percent to close at 1,088.44 after earlier falling as much as 7.4 percent. So far this year, the index has declined 42.6 percent.
<b>BEIJING --</b> Growth in China's industrial output slowed to 8.2 percent in October, down from 11.4 percent in September and the lowest in seven years, adding to signs an economic downturn is worsening as Beijing rushes to launch a 4 trillion yuan ($586 billion) stimulus package. The Shanghai Composite Index bucked lower Asian equities, jumping 3.7 percent to 1,927.61.
<b>AMSTERDAM, Netherlands -- </b>SNS Reaal NV, a Dutch financial services company will receive a 750 million euro ($934 million) lifeline from the government to shore up its capital position amid the financial crisis. SNS will be the third Dutch company to take government money in a month, following the larger ING Groep NV and Aegon NV. The Netherlands AEX index settled up by less than 1 percent at 249.96.
<b>HONG KONG -- </b>An investigation will be launched into the sale of financial products linked to collapsed U.S. investment bank Lehman Brothers after lawmakers voted overwhelmingly for a probe. Meanwhile, the head of the Carlyle Group, one of the world's largest private investment firms, said Asia has surpassed the U.S. to become the world's most attractive place for investment given its strong economic growth. In other news, Citic Pacific Ltd., the Hong Kong arm of a Chinese government investment company, said it has secured a $1.5 billion bailout from its parent company to cover losses from bad currency bets. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index dived 5.2 percent to 13,221.35.
<b>MEXICO CITY --</b> Mexico's Congress approved a 3 trillion peso ($231 billion) spending portion in its 2009 budget Wednesday, a bid to jump-start an economy suffering from a global credit crunch and the U.S. economic slowdown. It is an increase of more than 13 percent over last year.
<b>KUWAIT CITY --</b> Trading on Kuwait's hard-hit stock exchange was halted by court order on Thursday, a move cheered by many traders but criticized by the government and other investors who urged their privileged countrymen to stop acting like a "spoiled baby." The ruling will remain in effect until another court hearing on Monday.
<b>CANBERRA, Australia --</b> Rewarding senior finance executives with big salaries for taking big risks was "dumb," Australia's prime minister said. Meanwhile, shareholders of St. George Bank Ltd. approved a 16 billion Australian dollar ($10 billion) takeover by bigger rival Westpac Banking Corp., creating the country's second-biggest bank by assets. Australia's benchmark index slid 5.9 percent to a four-year closing low of 3,697.3 as banks tumbled and lower commodity prices hit miners.
<b>MACAU --</b> Struggling casino operator Las Vegas Sands Corp. will lay off as many as 11,000 workers after a cash crunch forced the company to halt construction on multibillion dollar projects in the Chinese gambling city.
<b>NEW DELHI --</b> India, Thailand and five other South and Southeast Asian nations urged the G-20 to strengthen the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and regional banks to help developing countries weather the global economic meltdown. Reluctance by international institutions to lend money to developing countries would make it difficult for some of them to manage their balance of payments positions, said Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. Meanwhile, the wholesale price index, India's most-watched inflation measure, eased to 9 percent for the week ended Nov. 1, down from 10.7 percent for the prior week. Falling commodities prices helped cool India's inflation, which has been running near a 13-year high. Indian financial markets were closed for a national holiday.
<b>GENEVA -- </b>China has agreed to loosen controls on financial news providers in an out-of-court settlement of a dispute with the United State, the European Union and Canada. China, which has since 2006 required foreign news companies to funnel their data through the state's own agency, will set up an independent regulator next year to create a level playing field for financial information providers.
<b>BRUSSELS, Belgium </b>-- The European Union began talks with Libya about a cooperation pact, which could be concluded in 2009. More than 90 percent of Libya's oil exports go to Europe. The agreement would open up trade and increase economic and political cooperation. It would be similar to deals the EU has with other countries in North Africa and the Middle East.
<b>SAO PAULO, Brazil --</b> Latin American stocks continued to fall after being battered a day earlier over fears that the region is being hit hard by the global economic slowdown. Brazil's Ibovespa index dropped 1.4 percent. Mexico's IPC index slipped less than 1 percent, while Argentina's Merval index fell 2.2 percent.
<b>NEW YORK --</b> Asserting the global financial crisis is "not a failure of the free market," President George W. Bush called on the world leaders meeting this weekend to agree on a modest set of reforms aimed at preventing future collapses. Bush's main message to the leaders about to converge on Washington: Reforms won't help if they overreach by abandoning the free market and restricting trade.
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