A look at economic developments around the world
- |
A look at economic developments and stock-market activity around the world Tuesday:
------
LONDON -- Major retailers Next PLC and Debenhams PLC reported falling sales over the crucial Christmas-New Year trading period, but investors were relieved that their drops were not as bad as many had feared. Meanwhile, the Nationwide building society said house prices in Britain fell by 15.9 percent in December, their biggest annual amount in at least 56 years. The FTSE 100 index of leading British shares closed up 59.28 points, or 1.3 percent, at 4,638.92.
------
BERLIN -- German billionaire Adolf Merckle threw himself in front of a train after his business empire, which included interests ranging from VW cars to pharmaceuticals to cement, ran into trouble in the global financial crisis, his family said. Meanwhile, the DAX rose 42.32 points, or 0.9 percent, to 5,026.31, while France's CAC-40 rose 36.30 points, or 1.1 percent, to 3,396.22.
------
RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil -- Brazilian industrial production fell by 6.2 percent in November over the same month in 2007, the most in seven years, the country's national statistics agency said. Brazil's Ibovespa rose 1.9 percent to 42,312. Elsewhere in Latin America, the Merval in Argentina rose 5.4 percent to 1,214, while Mexico's benchmark index dropped 1 percent to 23,005.
------
SHANGHAI, China -- General Motors Corp. said its sales in China rose 6 percent to 1.09 million vehicles in 2008, but growth slowed as consumers held back amid an economic downturn.The Shanghai Composite Index rose 3 percent to 1,937.15, while South Korea's Kospi rose 1.8 percent and Australia's key benchmark added 1.5 percent. Hong Kong was the only major regional market to fall, with the Hang Seng index down 53.80 points, or 0.4 percent, at 15,509.51 points.
------
TOKYO -- Japan's business leaders said the U.S. financial crisis has shown the shortcomings of America's freewheeling approach to business, but defended the end of this nation's tradition of lifetime employment as needed to keep up with global changes. The Nikkei 225 stock average rose 37.72 points, or 0.4 percent, to 9,080.84 as a weaker yen boosted exporters like Sony Corp. and Canon Inc.
------
REYKJAVIK, Iceland -- Iceland's state-run Kaupthing bank will sue the British government for its decision to force the bank's British subsidiary into a form of bankruptcy, the Icelandic Prime Minister's office said.
------
BANGKOK, Thailand -- Thailand's central bank predicted minimal economic growth for this year but not a recession. Bank of Thailand Governor Tarisa Watanagase said the global economic downturn had caused the bank to revise its growth estimate to 0.5-2.5 percent for this year. The bank had previously forecast growth of 3.5-5 percent for 2009. The SET index fell 1.3 percent.
