UNDATED (AP) — Hopes for fresh stimulus from the European Central Bank and China’s steady growth bolstered Asian stocks today while European markets drifted lower in early trading. Futures point to a Wall Street pullback at this morning’s opening after yesterday’s solid gains. Benchmark crude oil rose slightly and remained above $82.50 a barrel. The dollar fell against the Euro and the yen.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Labor Department releases its Consumer Price Index for September today. There’s been little sign of inflation in recent months. Prices actually dropped two-tenths of a percent in August, with gasoline, airline tickets and clothing prices all falling. It was the first decline since a similar drop in April or 2013. Boeing will have its numbers out before the market opens this morning, while AT&T is scheduled to release earnings after the market closes.
BEIJING (AP) — Asia Pacific finance ministers are meeting today in Beijing to consider coordinated responses amid concerns over a slowdown in the regional economy highlighted by lower Chinese growth figures. China’s vice premier says recovery from the global economic downturn had been tepid, but he expressed confidence in his country’s economy.
TOKYO (AP) — The Finance Ministry says Japan’s trade deficit edged higher in September though exports rose more than expected as the yen weakened to a near six-year low. The September figures took Japan’s trade deficit in the first half of the fiscal year to 5.53 trillion yen ($50.7 billion), up 8.6 percent from a year earlier.
BERLIN (AP) — Germany’s biggest airline, Lufthansa, says it plans to sell its information technology infrastructure division to IBM as part of a deal aimed at reducing the carrier’s IT costs. Lufthansa says it expects to cut costs by about 70 million euros ($89 million) per year under the proposed deal, which will see the airline outsource all its IT infrastructure services to IBM.
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