A look at economic developments and activity in major stock markets around the world Thursday:7 c3 b$ r! z. f+ z7 X
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- C1 n) ^) p$ ?# c% z LONDON — World stock markets mostly rose as traders put aside uncertainty about the size of the Federal Reserve's economy-boosting bond purchase plan to sort through a raft of earnings reports.5 K+ R0 F# p* g, q# i3 J
Britain's FTSE 100 index was up 1 percent at 5,699.84 and Germany's DAX was up 0.9 percent at 6,626.35. France's CAC-40 was 1.1 percent higher at 3,857.79. Earlier in Asia, Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 stock index closed down 0.2 percent to 9,366.03.
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# j& l: K+ e$ o BRUSSELS — Germany and France sought to convince skeptical EU partners to back new rules on state spending, which they say are needed to prevent another government debt crisis in Europe.- a2 r0 i" p! p y
German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy arrived at a two-day EU summit in Brussels seeking a permanent crisis resolution mechanism, which would force private creditors to bear some of the cost of bailing out a highly indebted country.) E9 }/ ^# o8 @
They also called for stripping EU voting rights from repeat overspenders — a radical measure that some say will not pass.! u k3 W% v; @$ |
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8 D* @, a2 h$ t# j, b& y; z DUBLIN — The interest rate on Ireland's national debt reached a new euro-era high as investors sold off Irish bonds on skepticism that the country can meet a European Union deadline for reversing its deficits." T$ O) y/ Y: D3 X1 N. S! U+ @1 C
The yield on Ireland's 10-year bonds rose above 7 percent for the first time since the euro's launch 11 years ago. That broke a previous high of 6.9 percent reached last month as doubts swelled over Ireland's ability to tame its deficit, which is forecast this year to reach 32 percent of GDP, a modern European record.1 O# t3 O1 o- h/ J# \
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% w# f' ^. V) {" U BERLIN — The number of Germans out of work sank below 3 million in October for the first time in two years, a sign of the country's resilient labor market." L$ @5 R% Q: A- i/ d" \
The unadjusted jobless rate sank to 7 percent in October from 7.2 percent in September, with 2.945 million people out of work, the Federal Labor Agency said. That was down 86,000 from September, a drop the agency credited both to a traditional seasonal improvement and economic recovery./ y4 ~7 a4 e- h+ G- B" x1 ]6 ]4 @" N
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* I. c' h/ {' t ATHENS, Greece — Contract workers at Greece's Culture Ministry have staged another protest at the ancient Acropolis, in an effort to press the government to extend their short-term work agreements.
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! {0 p% T; _/ P/ i: w+ b: L. ^* C4 r PARIS — More nationwide street protests and strikes caused travel woes even though parliament has already approved President Nicolas Sarkozy's unpopular plan to raise the retirement age.' P2 L3 r3 y j5 i4 k
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LONDON — A major British mortgage lender says that average house prices fell 0.7 percent in October, continuing a modest downturn since the start of the summer.8 u, G4 K; ~% H7 h6 j! F
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BEIJING — China's leaders are promising to narrow its huge trade surplus and curb surging emissions of climate-changing greenhouse gases in an ambitious five-year plan to make its economy cleaner and more high-tech.
, q' }% C8 t7 b+ j* h The Communist Party plan also promises to encourage consumer spending to reduce reliance on exports to power growth. The plan was approved last week by party leaders.
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TOKYO — Japan's central bank cut its economic growth forecasts and kept interest rates near zero, as the export-reliant nation confronts a strong yen and waning overseas demand.( `, b5 L5 ~% [& X: o
In its October outlook report, the Bank of Japan forecast the world's No. 3 economy to grow 2.1 percent in the year through March 2011 and 1.8 percent the following year. Its July assessment projected growth of 2.6 percent and 1.9 percent respectively.3 ^- U& J0 q/ Y) x5 z9 U
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BEIJING — China said it will not use exports of rare earths, exotic minerals required by high-tech industry, as a diplomatic "bargaining tool" while Washington pressed Beijing to clarify its policy following its de facto ban on supplies to Japan.+ z* B6 `3 k7 ~2 V
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0 |/ e! }5 N+ C9 L8 S SHANGHAI — China and the European Union have agreed to pursue jointly financed research focused on sharing and developing technologies for cleaner, less polluting and safer aircraft. |