U.S. markets start Monday higher
NEW YORK, Aug. 22 (UPI) -- U.S. markets followed Europe's cue Monday, heading higher in early trading on Wall Street.
Some stocks were roughed up in Asia and some did well. The S&P/ASX 200 in Australia lost 0.48 percent and the Nikkei 225 in Japan lost 1.04 percent. Stocks were down in China but higher in India and Hong Kong.
Europe showed more strength, with what market analyst Elisabeth Afseth at Evolution Securities in London told The New York Times was "natural reaction after the sharp falls at the end of last week." The pendulum was swinging back, in other words, as investors scrambled to take advantage of low prices.
In early afternoon trading on Wall Street, the Dow Jones industrial average added 109,51 points or 1.015 percent to 10,927.20. The Standard & Poor's 500 index gained 19.68 points, 0.86 percent, to 1,133.21. The Nasdaq composite index rose 1.08 percent, 25.29 points, to 2,367.13.
The benchmark 10-year treasury fell 18/32 to yield 2.125 percent.
The euro rose to $1.4401 from Friday's $1.4395. Against the yen, the dollar rose to 76.77 yen from Friday's 76.55 yen.
Oil prices rose on the New York Mercantile Exchange, gaining $114 to $83.55 per barrel as rebel forces in Libya gained some control of the nation's capital, leading some to predict fighting in the country could end soon.
NASDAQ COMPOSITE INDEX 2,367.13 25.29 1.08% 13:11
Chinese economist: 'No double-dip trend'
BEIJING, Aug. 22 (UPI) -- There is no trend of a double-dip recession in the world economy, a senior Chinese economist told the annual China Bankers Forum 2011 in Beijing.
Fan Gang, a former adviser to the Chinese central bank's monetary policy committee, also said the turmoil in Western markets will not affect emerging economies including China, China Daily reported Monday.
"Currently, there is no double-dip trend. It's just a less optimistic situation," Fan said. He said the slump in major stock markets is a correction of earlier overheating that would have a limited influence on other economies.
Earlier this month, Standard & Poor's downgraded the U.S. long-term credit rating to AA+ from AAA, one of the factors blamed for the current turmoil.
However, Fan said, "There is no need to panic."
He said since the 2008 financial crisis emerging markets have become more independent developed economies.
The economist said the current scale of sovereign debt at risk of default in Europe and the United States is far behind the level in 2008.
However, he also said China should further tighten its monetary stance to lessen capital inflows in the coming months.
The report said concerns have risen in China over accelerated capital inflows, especially of hot money, and their impact on efforts to curb inflation. China's foreign exchange reserves rose by a faster-than-expected 30.3 percent year-on-year as of the end of June to $3.2 trillion. Inflation in July rose to 6.5 percent even though the central bank has raised interest rates three times and increased the required reserve ratio for commercial lenders six times so far this year.
The politics of outsourcing
WASHINGTON, Aug. 22 (UPI) -- Some of the nation's biggest corporations are not up front about where their workforce lives because of politics, the head of a major U.S. trade group said.
Scott Paul, executive director of the Alliance for American Manufacturing said, "outsourcing has become a major lightening rod, and the media coverage they're likely to get is unfavorable," The Washington Post reported Monday.
Technology giant Apple, pharmaceutical behemoth Pfizer and household product company Procter & Gamble are among those that do not divulge how many of their workers are domestic and how many live overseas.
"I don't think they really have anything to hide, but I don't really know the logic of why that's something they don't just put in their annual report," said U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis researcher Ray Mataloni.
Some companies with track records of sending jobs overseas are now advising the government on how to grow more jobs at home.
General Electric Chief Executive Officer Jeff Immelt has said, "If you want to be an admired company, you better know (the figures), you better have accountability and you better think through where the jobs are."
Immelt is the chairman of the President Barack Obama's task force on jobs creation, which has raised some eyebrows, as GE, which does divulge its workforce statistics, has 46 percent of its workers in the United States, down from 54 percent in 2000.
"Should you listen to the kind of advice these companies have about how to grow the economy when their record and their model indicates they've cut jobs?" asked Ron Hira, an associate professor of public policy at the Rochester Institute of Technology.
Japan may intervene to stem yen rise
TOKYO, Aug. 22 (UPI) -- The Japanese government Monday indicated it may intervene in the currency markets to check the rising yen as that causes exports to cost more.
Finance Minister Yoshihiko Noda expressed concern after the dollar briefly fell below 76 yen last Friday.
"I am concerned that the one-sided strengthening of the yen has been accelerating," Noda told reporters. "We will not rule out any measures and will take tough action when proved necessary."
Kyodo News reported the minister said his government and the central bank, Bank of Japan, will continue to closely watch the market to assess "whether there are more speculative bets [on the yen's advance] than before."
The yen has continued to appreciate against the greenback despite a similar intervention on Aug. 4 that required the central bank to sell yen and purchase U.S. dollars.
The yen appreciation has been blamed on concerns over the economic situation both in Europe and the United States. A higher yen would make Japanese exports more expensive, further adversely affecting the country's economic recovery after the catastrophic March 11 earthquake and tsunami.
