Asian economies stumble; U.S. facing retail challenge LONDON -- Asian economic powerhouses saw production tumbling on Friday, while in the United States Thanksgiving sales posed a key test of America’s ability to spearhead recovery from global crisis. Continued fighting in India’s commercial capital, Mumbai, where Islamist militants launched attacks on Wednesday, and lingering fears of a coup in Thailand, underlined the political risks facing emerging markets already grappling with economic crisis. Indian commandos, appeared, however, to be flushing out the last of the militants. In Europe, data showed the euro zone economy shrinking, inflation falling more quickly than expected and a steeper rise in unemployment than predicted — all factors that raise pressure on the European Central Bank to cut interest rates substantially next week. The worst crisis in decades, which has humbled major world financial institutions, continued to encroach on the broader economy, driving output cutbacks, unemployment and bankruptcies. A major European builder, Austria’s Strabag, announced it would cut its investments by more than half next year. German industrial conglomerate ThyssenKrupp posted better than expected 2007/8 pretax profit, but gave no forecast for the coming year. The company said it could not rule out production shutdowns, shorter working weeks and layoffs in hard-hit steel, motor and construction sectors. Chinese insurer Ping Ang provided a striking illustration of the global nature of the crisis when, according to a government source, it asked China’ s government to help seek compensation from Belgium over its losses in the European financial group Fortis after the group’s nationalisation. Japan announced a fall of 3.1 percent in industrial output for October, more than expected, with a drop more than twice as big predicted for November. Household spending in the world’s number two economy fell 3.8 percent from a year earlier, also more than expected. The speed at which Japanese firms are slashing production, and consumers are scaling back their spending, surprised economists and suggested the economy was in for a deeper and longer recession than earlier thought. “Production is falling much faster than we had expected. Companies are adjusting their production very quickly,” said Takumi Tsunoda, senior economist at Shinkin Central Bank Research. “The auto makers are the worst hit, but their turmoil is starting to spill over to other sectors, such as steel.” Euro zone figures bore out the slowdown now being felt in factories and shops throughout the continent. The economy of the single currency area shrank quarter-on-quarter in April-June for the first time since measurements began in 1995. November inflation stood at an annual 2.1 percent, down from 3.2 percent in October. Unemployment rose faster than anticipated, to 7.7 percent in October from an upwardly revised 7.6 percent in September. Many will be looking this weekend to the United States, where the crisis began with a collapse in the U.S. mortgage market that saddled banks throughout the world with bad debt. America’s “Black Friday” sales, the day after the Thanksgiving holiday, provide a strong test of consumer confidence, a major driver of the U.S. economy. But the spectre of unemployment could dampen spending despite price cuts in the runup to Christmas, a time that brings up to 40 percent of annual sales. http://www.chinapost.com.tw/business/global--markets/2008/11/29/185349/Asian-economies.htm --

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