The most important country in the world, China, in terms of lighting the match under global economic growth had a slew of economic data overnight and the positive reaction sent the Shanghai index to a 3 week high. Most importantly, August Bank loans totaled 410.4b Yuan, about 90b more than expected and through 8 months this year it has totaled 8.1T, well above the 4.9T seen in all of 2008 but the pace of growth is slowing as government managing of potential overheating takes on greater focus. Industrial Production also rose more than estimated but retail sales and fixed asset investment were about in line. The trade surplus was higher than expected but both imports and exports fell more than the consensus. The overall good news in China is sending the Euro higher to a fresh one year high and up for a 6th day vs the $ as the German economy in particular depends on more than 40% of its GDP on exports with a big chunk going to Asia.
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