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While you were sleeping: APEC pledges continued stimulus, Disney profit rises

Monday 16th November 2009

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Leaders of the 21-member Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation group pledged to maintain stimulus measures until the global economy returns to sustained growth as they concluded the summit in Singapore.

“Economic recovery is not yet on a solid footing,” APEC said in a statement yesterday. “We will maintain stimulus policies until a durable economic recovery has clearly taken hold.” The group, which includes the U.S., China, Russia, Japan and Australia, agreed that the UN-led climate change summit in Copenhagen next month is unlikely to reach a binding agreement to tackle global warming.

Danish Prime Minister Lars Loekke Rasmussen, who is pulling together the summit in Copenhagen, told APEC leaders that the best that can be hoped for is a political accord to take action.

Stocks gained on Wall Street on Friday, led by consumer related stocks after Walt Disney Co. and retailer Abercrombie & Fitch posted quarterly earnings that beat estimates and JC Penney lifted its earnings forecast.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.7% to 10270.47 and the Standard & Poor’s 500 gained. The Nasdaq Composite gained 0.9% to 2167.88.

Disney climbed 4.8% to US$30.44 on Friday, leading the Dow higher, after reporting fourth-quarter net income of US$895 million, from US$760 million a year earlier, led by gains at its cable business.

Abercrombie jumped 11% to US$40.68, leading gainers on the S&P 500.

Kmart parent Sears Holdings climbed 6.7% to US$74.54 and JC Penney gained 6.2% to $31.21. Burger chain McDonald’s Corp. rose 2.3% to $63.58.

The stronger performance of consumer stocks wasn’t matched by sentiment figures.The Reuters/University of Michigan Surveys of Consumers reported its preliminary index of sentiment, which fell more than expected to 66 in November from 70.6 in the previous month.The 12-month economic outlook fell to the lowest in seven months.

Government figures showed the U.S. trade deficit widened by 18.2% in September, the biggest jump in 10 years, as the world’s biggest economy sucked in more imports from China.

The deficit widened to US$36.5 billion from US$30.8 billion in August. Imports rose 5.8% in the latest month while exports rose a more tepid 2.9%.

The U.S. dollar weakened after the data, which stoked speculation the U.S. economy may be one of the last majors to return to health, ensuring the Federal Reserve keeps interest rates near zero for longer.

The euro rose 0.4% to $1.4907 on Friday after the EU statistics office Eurostat reported the region’s economy emerged from recession in the third quarter.

The economy of the euro-zone expanded 0.4% while the broader European Union posted growth of 0.2%.

The euro weakened 0.3% to 133.69 against the yen. The greenback slipped 0.7% to 89.64 yen.

The Dollar Index, which measures the U.S. dollar against the currencies of six major trading partners, fell 0.5% to 75.33.

Gold gained as the greenback weakened, edging toward its record high as some investors sought the precious metal as an alternative investment.

Gold for December delivery rose US$10.10 to US$1,116.70 an ounce on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Copper futures for March delivery rose 0.9% to US$2.9995 a pound in New York.

Crude oil fell to its lowest level in a month on the New York Mercantile Exchange after the drop in U.S. consumer confidence boosted concern demand for fuel will wane.Crude oil for December delivery fell 59 cents to US$76.35 a barrel in New York.

In Europe, the Dow Jones Stoxx 600 rose 0.5% to 247.80. Among national benchmarks, the U.K.’s FTSE 100 gained 0.4% to 5296.38, Germany’s DAX 30 rose 0.4% to 5686.83 and France’s CAC 40 fell 0.1% to 3806.01.

Businesswire.co.nz

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