Washington(24x7updates) -- Economic activity grea at an annual rate of 3.8 percent in the third quarter, providing vivid evidence of the economy’s stamina even as it coped with the destructive forces of hurricanes.
Asian stocks rose for a fifth week, led by energy stocks such as Woodside Petroleum Ltd. and Inpex Corp., as Hurricane Rita caused crude oil prices to surge. The Morgan Stanley Capital International Asia-Pacific Index, which tracks more than 1,000 stocks in the region, gained 0.7 percent to 109.96, reaching a five-year high this week. Indexes in Japan rose to four-year highs and touched records in South Korea, India and Australia.
Give Asian nations a bigger role by reviewing quota system IMF employs for allotting more voting powers said Japanese Finance Minister Sadakazu Tanigaki. The current way the IMF distributes voting shares, commonly referred to as quotas, ``represents another form of unsustainable global imbalance,’’ Tanigaki said in speech at the IMF meetings in Washington. ``Many emerging market economies, including those in Asia, are markedly underrepresented’’ in terms of their economic strength and that causes ``distortions and unfairness’’ in determining their access to IMF resources.
Hurricane Katrina seems out of rate rise path, showing shear confidence of Federal Reserves in economy’s strength to endure the long term affects and high energy cost caused by hurricane Katrina.
Saudi Arabia is all set to join the World Trade Organisation by end of this year. This follows the signing of key trade agreement with US on Friday, which says Saudi Arabia will not enforce a boycott against American firms that have trade relations with Israel.
The Federal Reserve is paying closer attention to the rising values of assets such as stocks, bonds and homes, as low interest rates encourage more risk-taking, Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan said.
US commerce secretary Carlos Gutierrez who is on his first visit to Beijing has warned China of a potential backlash amidst tensions over its rampant product piracy and trade surpluses.
