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Various overseas economies are still struggling in the global recession, largely due to less demand for their products in the U.S. and other western nations.
This week, Reuters reported that factory production in China, Russia and India has fallen dramatically in recent months. In China, manufacturing has reportedly fallen for five straight months, although last month's pace was somewhat slowed.
Factories in India are also said to be cutting jobs, while Russia's manufacturing drop is worse than it experienced during its 1998 financial crisis. Also, South Korea is expecting its weakest growth since the beginning of the decade, while Singapore's economy could shrink up to two percent in 2009.
Still, the news isn't completely dismal. The wire service also noted that global stocks were 0.6 percent recently on the MSCI world index, raising the prospect that the economy may have finally turned a corner.
"That's not to say there isn't another storm on the horizon, but for the moment the intense pessimism of October and November seems to have eased," Robert Rennie of Westpac was quoted as saying.
CNNMoney.com also quoted Tim Crimmin of Lord Abbett as suggesting that "optimism for '09" had helped breathe life into futures markets. Later Friday, observers were expected to get a better glimpse at the state of the U.S. economy with the release of the latest manufacturing numbers.
U.S. recession impacting global economy
Various overseas economies are still struggling in the global recession, largely due to less demand for their products in the U.S. and other western nations. This week, Reuters reported that factory production in China, Russia and India has fallen dramatically in recent months. In China, manufacturing has reportedly fallen for five straight months, although last month's pace was somewhat slowed.
Factories in India are also said to be cutting jobs, while Russia's manufacturing drop is worse than it experienced during its 1998 financial crisis. Also, South Korea is expecting its weakest growth since the beginning of the decade, while Singapore's economy could shrink up to two percent in 2009.
Still, the news isn't completely dismal. The wire service also noted that global stocks were 0.6 percent recently on the MSCI world index, raising the prospect that the economy may have finally turned a corner.
"That's not to say there isn't another storm on the horizon, but for the moment the intense pessimism of October and November seems to have eased," Robert Rennie of Westpac was quoted as saying.
CNNMoney.com also quoted Tim Crimmin of Lord Abbett as suggesting that "optimism for '09" had helped breathe life into futures markets. Later Friday, observers were expected to get a better glimpse at the state of the U.S. economy with the release of the latest manufacturing numbers.
