Markets in Europe and Asia tipped lower Friday following Thursday's tumble in the United States prior to the Independence Day break.
The U.S. unemployment rate climbed from 9.4 percent to 9.5 percent in June on the loss of 467,000 jobs in the month, triggering the latest free fall. The Dow Jones industrial average lost 2.63 percent Thursday. The Standard & Poor's 500 dropped 2.91 percent and the Nasdaq shed 2.67 percent.
On the week, the DJIA slipped 1.8 percent, marking a three-week downward trend that puts the second quarter's 11 percent rise on serious notice.
Similarly, in Asia markets have been testing the waters of recovery. Backed by stimulus spending in China, Japan and South Korea, markets are still far below their peaks, but pointing upward.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index, up 0.14 percent Friday, is up 20 percent on the year. The Shanghai composite index, up 28 points or 0.92 percent Friday, has gained 68 percent in 2009.
In China, "sentiment has staged a remarkable recovery," Jing Ulrich, chairwoman of China equities at J. P. Morgan told The New York Times.
"This is about confidence. The money has always been there, even in the dark days of 2008," she said.
China and the United States are pushing a recovery with stimulus spending that is backed by vastly different fundamentals. In the U.S. economy, consumer spending fuels roughly 70 percent of the GDP, placing a huge emphasis on job losses, which means smaller paydays.
China, of course, is export oriented, but looking to expand its middle class. Remarkably, Ulrich said China could "hit that 8 percent target even without meaningful contributions from exports."
"It's not party time again," said economist Stephen Green, who called China's turn around "U-shaped." But the aim to turn an export-economy toward home-based prosperity is evident in bank lending, which included $1 trillion in new loans January through June, nearly twice the total in bank lending for 2008, which hit $620 billion, the Times said.
China's recovery also includes a massive effort to fund sustainable energy projects, help consumers purchase newer, fuel-efficient cars and step up its development of electric vehicles.
The U.S. Department of Energy announced it would provide $59 million in loan guarantees for two alternative energy projects Thursday.
China may soon take the lead in the effort to go green, having doubled its wind power capacity for four consecutive years. In a wind power push, six projects in the Gobi desert will each soon push out as much power as 16 large coal-burning power plants, the Times reported.
Elsewhere in Asia, the Nikkei average in Japan slipped 0.61 percent Friday, while the Singapore Straits Times index dropped 0.91 percent. In Australia, the S&P/ASX index fell 1.27 percent.
In midday trading in Europe, the FTSE 100 in London rose 0.23 percent, while the DAX 30 in Frankfurt fell 0.4 percent. The CAC 40 in Paris lost 0.09 percent, while the broader DJStoxx 600 slipped 0.17 percent.
