A Look At Economic Developments Around The Globe
A look at economic developments and activity in major stock markets around the world Monday:
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LONDON - Global stocks started the week positively amid signs that the turmoil in Egypt was easing after days of anti-government unrest, but the euro was hit by soft German economic data and some disappointment that last week's summit of EU leaders did not yield anything substantially new on resolving Europe's debt crisis.
In Europe, Britain's FTSE 100 closed up 0.9 percent, Germany's DAX rose 0.9 percent and the CAC-40 in Paris ended 1.1 percent higher.
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TOKYO - Earlier in Asia, most indexes advanced. The Nikkei 225 stock average rose 0.5 percent but Hong Kong's Hang Seng index dropped 1.5 percent to 23,553.59 amid anxiety over whether China will soon hike interest rates to stem inflation. Chinese markets were closed for the Lunar New Year holidays.
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CAIRO - The Egyptian stock exchange said trading will resume Sunday, while massive protests that have roiled the country for the past two weeks panicked investors and pushed the country's currency to near six-year lows.
The exchange's benchmark index had plummeted 17 percent over two days before the market closed on Jan. 27. It has remained closed as tens of thousands of people demonstrated daily in Cairo, demanding Mubarak's removal.
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TOKYO - The head of Japan's central bank said the country lacks a sense of urgency to tackle the reforms needed to improve government finances that are in "very bad shape."
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SAO PAULO - The U.S. treasury secretary is in Brazil, bolstering economic ties and referring to a problem both nations face - China's allegedly undervalued currency.
Timothy Geithner hasn't mentioned China by name, but he says Brazil and other economies are feeling the turbulence of other nations' attempts to sustain undervalued currencies.
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LISBON, Portugal - A strike by Lisbon subway staff kicked off a week of protests by Portuguese public transport workers, who are angry about government cutbacks aimed at solving the country's debt crisis.
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BERLIN - The Economy Ministry says German industrial orders fell an unexpectedly high 3.4 percent in December, pulled down by a large drop in demand for capital goods from non-eurozone countries.
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ATHENS, Greece - A team of inspectors supervising Greece's bailout loan agreement is in Athens to review the country's austerity program before approving the next payout worth 15 billion euros ($20.5 billion).
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SEOUL, South Korea - South Korea's financial regulator says authorities are investigating two Asian units of Deutsche Bank over a sharp fall in Seoul's benchmark stock index late last year.
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SANTIAGO, Chile - Chile's economy grew 5.2 percent last year after contracting 1.5 percent in 2009. Chile's central bank also estimates 6 percent growth for this year.
Chilean President Sebastian Pinera says that despite Chile's devastating earthquake last year, the economy has recovered and he expects the country to have the fastest growth in Latin America this year.
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JAKARTA, Indonesia - Indonesia's economic growth accelerated to 6.9 percent in the fourth quarter of last year, adding to expectations for more interest rate hikes.
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SEOUL, South Korea - South Korea's foreign currency reserves hit a new record high in January amid strength in the euro and British pound.