Originally published by the Voice of America (www.voanews.com).
Voice of America is funded by the US Federal Government and content it
exclusively produces is in the public domain.
November 4, 2008

World Markets Higher as Americans Vote
--------------------------------------

http://enews.voanews.com/t?ctl=1F20CD6:A6F02AD83191E160418209FDBD494D5EB3350E090FE6A6E8&
 
European, Asian and US markets post gains, Tuesday as key indicator of
banks' willingness to lend to each other improves again 
People walk nearby an electric market board in Tokyo, 04 Nov 2008Many
stock markets around the world are posting strong gain Tuesday as
Americans head to the polls to choose a new president for the world's
largest economy. U.S. share prices gained around three percent in
mid-day trading. European indexes are up between four and five percent
in late trading, and key Asian markets were higher at the close. The
gains come as a key measure of banks' willingness to lend to each other
improved again. Before recent declines in the "Libor" interest rate,
credit markets had been stalled, making the economic crisis worse.
Credit markets began flowing as governments around the world offered
trillions of dollars in emergency aid to financial institutions and cut
interest rates in a bid to restore bankers' confidence. Australia cut
its key interest rate Tuesday and the European Central Bank and the Bank
of England are widely expected to slash rates on Thursday. But that news
may be!
  tempered by a new United Nations' report that says the financial
crisis has spread to international trade, hitting developing nations
that export commodities particularly hard. The U.N. report says a key
measure of demand for trade, which tracks shipping costs, has fallen
dramatically over the past few months. Also Tuesday, British Prime
Minister Gordon Brown predicted oil-rich countries from the Persian Gulf
will contribute more money to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) when
world leaders meet in Washington next week. The IMF is already giving
billions of dollars to help bail out Iceland, Ukraine and Hungary.

Some information for this report was provided by Bloomberg.


.