Highlight of some of the bright spots in the world’s economies:
Stocks are up around the world as China and US economies rebound and American jobless claims fall
Asian stocks jumped Thursday after China’s brisk economic growth quickened and U.S. companies posted stronger-than-expected quarterly results, boosting faith in a global recovery. European stock markets closed higher on Thursday as Wall Street saw three straight days of gains after better than expected U.S. jobless claims data fed into the prevailing view of an imminent U.S. economic recovery. New applications for unemployment insurance plunged by a seasonally adjusted 47,000, surprising experts who expected a surge of jobless claims. (Read more from AP)
U.S. Housing Starts, Permits Jump in June
New U.S. housing starts and permits jumped in June, propelled by a rise in ground-breaking for single-family homes and suggesting the battered housing sector was beginning to stabilize, a government report showed on Friday. Housing starts unexpectedly climbed 3.6 percent in June, Commerce Department data showed. (Contine Reading in Reuters)
The Worst of US Credit Crisis is Over, says Expert
The worst of the US credit crisis is over, and high-yield bonds are poised for modest gains in the second half of 2009, according to a veteran high-yield bond analyst. ‘Certainly what the market is saying is that we are well past the worst of the credit crisis,’ Martin Fridson, chief executive officer of Fridson Investment Advisors in New York told Reuters on Thursday. (Continue reading in Reuters)
Canadian Conference Board says Slump All but Over
Canada’s painful recession appears close to an end after the economy received two key votes of confidence Monday suggesting the turnaround is just around the corner: A summer survey of businesses revealed an upbeat mood among Canada’s leading executives, with 39 percent planning to start hiring in the upcoming 12 months. The Conference Board of Canada also predicted the recession would finally end this summer.
In a related development, home sales are up in June, with the largest markets of Toronto and Vancouver posting strong gains. (Continue reading in the Canadian Press)