Global Indices & Markets News
Global equity indices
The major market indices moved higher last week. U.S. S&P 500 Index advanced by 2.17 percent, Hong Kong Hang Seng Index gained 0.65 percent. In contrast, Korea KOSPI dropped by 1.01 percent.
U.S. Labor Report
The latest labor report in U.S. is better than expected. The unemployment rate fell to 7.7 percent from 7.9 percent and non-farm payrolls increased 236,000 in February.
U.S. Fed and QE3
Janet Yellen, the Federal Reserve's vice chair, said the U.S. Federal Reserves’ aggressive monetary stimulus is warranted given how far the economy was operating below its full potential.
Downgrade of the eurozone economic forecast
The eurozone economic forecast for 2013 is lowered by European Central Bank (ECB). The ECB saw eurozone will contact of 0.1 to 0.9 percent this year. However, ECB kept the interest rate unchanged in the meeting.
China’s economic growth target
Beijing pledged to boost fiscal spending in a bid to deliver economic growth of 7.5 percent in year 2013, with Wen Jiabao setting out a reform plan as China's annual parliament meetings got under way.
The latest data from China
China's annual industrial output growth eased to 9.9 percent in the first two months from a year ago, below market forecasts. In the same period, China's consumer price index rose 3.2 percent in February versus a year ago, with food prices leaping 6.0 percent on a year ago - a nine-month high.
Update of Emerging Markets
The HSBC PMI index, based on purchasing managers' surveys of 16 emerging economies, fell to 52.3 from 53.8 in January but remained above the crucial 50 level which signifies overall expansion. New orders slowed to their lowest rate in six months, while employment growth slipped to a three-month low.
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