20121024 1001 Global Economy Related News.

Singapore: Inflation hits 4.7% in Sept
Singapore's inflation quickened in September as car prices and rents soared from a year ago, increasing the pressure on the government for a more aggressive stance including further measures to cool the property market. The city-state's consumer price index rose 4.7% in September from a year ago, up from August's 3.9% increase. (BT)

Taiwan: September industrial production gains less than estimated
Taiwan’s industrial output rose less than economists estimated in September as a global growth slowdown tempered gains in manufacturing and exports. Output climbed 3% last month from a year earlier, after gaining a revised 1.37% in August, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said. The median estimate of 11 economists in a Bloomberg survey was 6.5%. (Bloomberg)

Hong Kong: Defends peg second time as currency tests limit
The Hong Kong Monetary Authority sold its own currency for a second time in a week to stem appreciation after it traded near the upper limit of a 29-year-old peg to the US dollar. The central bank bought a combined USD1.25bn at a rate of HKD7.75 per US dollar in Hong Kong and New York, the authority said. That followed a USD603m intervention on 19 Oct, when it stepped into the market for the first time since 2009. (Bloomberg)

Euro: Consumer confidence little-changed after four-month slump
Euro-area consumer confidence remained little-changed in October after decreasing in the previous four months as record unemployment and the deepening economic slump weighed on sentiment. An index of household sentiment in the 17-nation euro area rose to -25.6 from -25.9 in September, the European Commission in Brussels said in an initial estimate. September was the lowest reading since May 2009. Economists had forecast an unchanged reading, the median of 26 estimates in a Bloomberg survey showed. (Bloomberg)

Spain: Output shrinks for fifth quarter amid bailout talk
Spain’s economy contracted for a fifth quarter, adding pressure on Premier Mariano Rajoy to seek more European aid even as the euro area’s fourth-largest economy met a bill-sales target. GDP fell 0.4% in the three months through September from the previous quarter, matching the contraction of the second quarter, the Bank of Spain said. That compares with a median forecast for a 0.7% contraction in a Bloomberg News survey of 10 economists. (Bloomberg)

Dow Average falls most since June amid disappointing earnings
US stocks retreated, triggering Dow Jones Industrial Average’s biggest decline since June, amid disappointing results by companies from 3M Co. to DuPont Co. and as commodities erased their gains for the year. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index decreased 1.4% to 1,413.11, the lowest level since 5 Sept. The Dow slumped 243.36 points, or 1.8%, to 13,102.53. Volume for exchange-listed stocks in the US was 6.6bn shares, or 9.1% above the three-month average. (Bloomberg)