NEW YORK - INVESTORS believing that Wall Street is on the verge of a yearend rally piled into the market, brushing off more weak economic data while they scarfed up stocks and propelled the DowJones industrials to its highest close in four weeks. The Dow rose 305.45, or 3.28 per cent, to 9,625.28. The broader indexes also rose.
The Standard & Poor's 500 index gained 39.45, or 4.08 per cent, to 1,005.75. The Nasdaq composite index rose 53.79, or 3.12 per cent, to 1,780.12, its sixth straight advance and its longest winning streak of the year. The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies rose 7.47, or 1.39 per cent, to 545.97.
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BRUSSELS, Belgium - European Union finance ministers told France that it was going too fast, too soon with plans to push for concrete global financial reforms at a Washington summit next week. France is trying to create a consensus within the EU to push a finance summit in Washington on Nov 15-16 to adopt stricter financial regulation.
But diplomats present at the EU ministers' talks said there was no support for such a plan when the crisis may not yet have peaked.
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SYDNEY, Australia - Australia's central bank cut its benchmark interest rate by a bigger-than-expected three-quarters of a percentage point as the global financial meltdown threatens to drag the country into recession. It was the third time in as many months that the Reserve Bank of Australia slashed rates, and takes the cash rate to 5.25 per cent.
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MADRID, Spain - The number of people filing jobless claims in Spain rose 7.3 per cent last month and is now the highest since 1996, the government reported.
Those claiming unemployment benefits increased by 192,658 in October to 2.8 million. Since October 2007 the number has risen a staggering 37.5 per cent, the Labor Ministry said. Spain has the highest unemployment rate in the 27-member EU. 04,639.50 +196.22
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LONDON - Britain's FTSE 100 index rose 196.22 points, or 4.4 per cent, to close at 4,639.50.
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BERLIN - German Chancellor Angela Merkel called for negotiations on global financial system changes to be completed within months and said she would seek greater support for crisis-stricken emerging economies. She argued that the International Monetary Fund should get greater powers to oversee financial companies that are active globally. The DAX rose 251.20 points, or 5 per cent, to finish at 5,278.04.
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STOCKHOLM, Sweden - Swed bank AB became the first of the Nordic country's four main banks to announce plans to ask for guarantees under the government's bank bailout package on new debt it is issuing. Meanwhile, Sweden's national debt office said the government's finances are deteriorating.
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PARIS - France's CAC-40 rose 163.12 points, or 4.6 per cent, to close at 3,691.09.
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BUDAPEST, Hungary - European Union governments in Brussels, Belgium on Tuesday cleared a 6.5 billion euro (S$12.23 billion) loan for Hungary, part of an international package to rescue the country's economy in the wake of the financial crisis.
It is the first time the EU has used a crisis fund set up six years ago to help member states in trouble. The five-year EU loan is part of a larger US$25.1 billion rescue for Hungary to help it meet debt payments after its currency dropped sharply in value last month.
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TOKYO - Japan's Nikkei surged 537.62 points, or 6.3 per cent, to close at 9,114.60 as the market played catch-up after being closed on Monday, when most of Asia rose.
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BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan - Kyrgyzstan's economy minister said that the global economic crisis may drive the impoverished Central Asian nation to the verge of financial collapse. A drop in the amount of money sent home from migrant laborers working abroad and falling investment rates could start to affect the country by early next year, Akylbek Japarov said during a televised government meeting.
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SANTIAGO, Chile - Chile is putting up more than US$1 billion from treasury funds to help middle-income families and smaller businesses survive the global financial crisis. President Michelle Bachelet says US$500 million will enable Chile's state-owned BancoEstado to increase credit for qualifying businesses. The other half will go to subsidize home purchases by middle income families.
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SHANGHAI, China - In mainland China, the market dropped for a third day. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index slipped 0.8 per cent to close at 1,706.7. Losers included China Shenhua Energy, the country's biggest coal producer, and Kailuan Clean Coal.
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HONG KONG - Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index added 0.3 per cent to finish at 14,384.34 after fluctuating through the day, with bank shares up as lending conditions eased further.
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SAO PAULO, Brazil - Brazil's Ibovespa index was up 5.6 per cent to 40,397.99 in midday trading, rising for the second day in a row. The Merval index of Argentina gained 6.1 per cent to 1,1122.14 by early afternoon. -- AP