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Markets glum on US crisis action, steel in distress
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Markets glum on US crisis action, steel in distress
AFP - 2 hours 47 minutes ago
LONDON (AFP) - - Financial markets recoiled on Wednesday after US economic rescue moves left investors bewildered and sceptical, and data revealed plunging demand for steel, cars, and oil in the global crisis.
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ArcelorMittal, the world's biggest steel maker, reported a huge loss in the fourth quarter of 2008 following a sharp downturn in the construction and auto industries and said job cuts could exceed a planned total of 9,000.
The International Energy Agency in Paris again cut its forecast for global oil demand, saying the decline for 2009 would be the biggest since 1982.
And French carmaker Peugeot Citroen said it would shed more than 11,000 jobs this year and slash output by 20 percent, after reporting a net loss in 2008.
"We have a collapse in industrial output, production halted in a number of factories, a stabilisation of consumption and probably a drop in exports," French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde said in televised comments.
The Bank of England said the recession-hit British economy was set to shrink by up to 6.0 percent in the middle of 2009 from the level 12 months earlier, returning to growth only in early 2010.
In Switzerland, Credit Suisse posted its biggest ever loss of 7.1 billion dollars (5.5 billion euros) in 2008 saying "intensified" market disruption in the last quarter of the year had hit its investment banking unit.
EU leaders are to hold a special crisis summit on March 1 and finance ministers from the Group of Seven top world economies will hold talks on Friday on fighting the crisis while avoiding protectionist measures for industry.
The latest batch of grim corporate results came as markets reacted nervously and somewhat negatively to new huge support for the US banking system and to the approval of a massive stimulus package by the US Senate.
Emmanuel Ng, a currency economist with OCBC bank in Singapore, said there was "quite a lot of disappointment" in the US banking rescue measures, adding they "will keep risk aversion fairly evident" in currency markets.
"Traders were disappointed with the lack of details," analysts at Charles Schwab & Co. had said after the meaures were unveiled on Tuesday.
"The plan failed to provide clarity on how the government would price the toxic assets the banks hold, which have held back a thaw in the extension of credit."
US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner called on Tuesday for a new public-private fund to soak up toxic assets clogging the financial system, for higher consumer lending, limits to home foreclosures and new capital for banks.
But Kathy Lien from Global Forex Trading said that investors were "disappointed by the lack of details and are sceptical about the effectiveness of getting the private sector involved" in the banking rescue plan.
Also on Tuesday, US President Barack Obama hailed approval by the Senate of a highly contentious 838-billion-dollar (647-billion-euro) economic stimulus plan and pushed for lawmakers to send him a final bill in days.
But in reaction to the sharp slide in US stocks, he accused Wall Street of wanting an "easy" way out of the crisis, saying in an interview: "What we've tried to do is to apply some of the tough love that's going to be necessary."
The dollar fell against the euro and the yen on Wednesday and European stock markets slipped, with the CAC 40 index in Paris falling 0.67 percent and the FTSE 100 in London dropping 0.21 percent in early afternoon trading.
Mirroring sharp losses on Wall Street on Tuesday, Asian stock markets tumbled on US jitters with Hong Kong closing down 2.46 percent and Seoul falling 1.5 percent. Tokyo's stock market was closed for a public holiday.
Meanwhile Chinese export data showed Asia's second biggest economy was being squeezed further by the global economic slump with exports falling 17.5 percent in January from a year earlier and imports plunging 43.1 percent.
Jing Ulrich, head of China equities at US bank JP Morgan, said the sharp contraction in imports "reflects slowing domestic investment and lower demand... and likely signals continuing export weakness in the future."
In response to the downturn affecting its once-buoyant economy, China also said it would take policy steps to boost demand for domestically produced ships and offer financial support for the shipbuilding sector.
In South Korea, new figures showed more than 100,000 jobs were lost in the year to January, the biggest annual contraction since September 2003.
And India announced plans to inject nearly 800 million dollars into three state-run banks to spur lending and boost the country's slowing economy.
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US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner announces details of a financial stability plan at the Treasury Building in Washington, DC. Financial markets recoiled on Wednesday after US economic rescue moves left investors bewildered and sceptical, and data revealed plunging demand for steel, cars, and oil in the global crisis.
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