1 Global manufacturing struggles as stimulus falls
short (Gulf News) Massive monetary stimulus from Chinese and European central
banks has done little to spur factory growth, moving a debate over more easing
up the agenda and raising doubts over whether US interest rates will rise this
year.
A crop of industry surveys have pointed to October
as another subdued month. Activity in China’s colossal factory sector shrank as
global demand stuttered while Eurozone factories again resorted to slashing
prices to drum up trade.
More than half a year after the ECB started pumping
in 60 billion euros a month of new money through its quantitative easing
programme, the currency bloc’s relatively downbeat manufacturing survey may
make disappointing reading for policymakers. The central bank has failed to
lift inflation anywhere near its target of just below 2 per cent, and data on
Friday showed prices were unchanged last month, heaping more pressure on the
bank to act.
Beijing has also rolled out a raft of support steps
to avert a sharper slowdown, including cutting interest rates six times in the
past year, but the stimulus has been slower to take effect than in the past.
The only promising news came from Japan and Britain.
Markets are betting the Bank of Japan will have to expand its asset-buying
campaign. In Britain, which doesn’t use the euro, factory activity unexpectedly
surged to a 16-month high helped by a recovery in export orders although
economists remained cautious.
2 Nissan reports 38% profit rise (San Francisco
Chronicle) Nissan's profit for the July-September quarter zoomed 38 percent
higher on healthy sales in China, the US and Europe, prompting the automaker to
raise its full-year projections.
Yokohama, Japan-based Nissan Motor Co. reported a
fiscal second quarter profit of 172.8 billion yen ($1.4 billion), up from 124.9
billion yen the year before. Quarterly sales at the automaker allied with
Renault SA of France rose 13 percent to 3.034 trillion yen ($25.2 billion).
Nissan now expects a 535 billion yen ($4.4 billion)
profit for the full year through March 2016, which would be an increase of
nearly 17 percent from the previous year. It credited strong sales, cost cuts
and a favorable exchange rate. The maker of the Leaf electric car and Infiniti
luxury models had earlier expected a 485 billion yen ($4 billion) profit for
the fiscal year.
Nissan has recently shown its advances in developing
the self-driving car. It's also a world leader in electric vehicles, with
cumulative global sales of 200,000 for its Leaf electric car. The self-driving
technology, still in its experimental stages and not yet for commercial use, is
being packed in the Leaf as well.
Such cutting-edge technology doesn't contribute much
to vehicle sales in its early phases but is a boon to Nissan's image. Nissan
expects to sell 5.5 million vehicles for the fiscal year, up 3.4 percent from
the previous year.
http://www.sfgate.com/news/world/article/Nissan-reports-38-percent-rise-in-profit-raises-6604536.php
3 Best news: There’s progress in ending extreme
poverty (Jim Yong Kim in The Guardian) The dramatic fall in global poverty over
the past two decades is the best news in the world today. For the first time
ever, the percentage of people living in extreme poverty – now defined as
living on less than $1.90 a day – is projected to fall below 10% this year, to
9.6% of the world’s population.
Unprecedented economic growth, especially in China,
has allowed hundreds of millions of people to escape poverty. But to
effectively end extreme poverty by 2030 – the goal of the World Bank Group and
our 188 member countries – our aspirations must be higher still. Many tough
decisions will have to be made before we can become the generation that ends
extreme poverty.
The question we ask today is how developing
countries can progress in the face of slow global growth, the end of the commodities
super-cycle, pending interest rate hikes, and capital flight from emerging
markets?
For the largely middle-income countries in East Asia
and the Pacific, the challenge in this unfavorable global environment is to
sustain growth, improve social services and protect the vulnerable. The Pacific
Islands will also need to ensure stronger public finances in order to be best
prepared for the impacts of climate change and future economic shocks.
Our overarching strategy, based on more than 50
years of experience, is that three things must happen: Economic growth must
lift all people. It must be inclusive. Investment in human beings is crucial –
especially investing in their health and education.
We must ensure that we can provide safety nets that
prevent people from falling back into poverty because of poor health, economic
shocks, or natural disasters. And, to spur growth, every dollar of public
spending should be scrutinised for impact. And in a period when banks are
de-risking, we have to ensure that capital is accessible – especially for small
business owners and entrepreneurs who will create jobs.
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