AFP Business

China's new Nasdaq-style market saw a week of wild yo-yo swings as frenzied investors sent the start-up shares to "ridiculously" high levels, analysts say, warning a correction is on the cards. The 28 stocks on the ChiNext board in the southern boomtown of Shenzhen repeatedly tripped circuit-breakers in place to curb rampant speculation as keen buyers ignored warnings from regulators to trade in a "rational" way. After a massive debut surge for all shares on October 30, with some soaring as much as 210 percent amid feverish buying, subsequent sessions saw stocks see-sawing up and down by the 10 percent limit in place on ... Read Full Story

Withdrawing Australia's government stimulus now would interrupt the recovery underway, Treasurer Wayne Swan said Sunday as he warned the country was not immune to the risks to the global economy. Swan said the government's 70 billion dollar (64 billion US) stimulus, credited with helping Australia avoid a recession, had already peaked and was gradually winding down. But he said although the nation had posted 0.6 percent growth in the June quarter -- the best in the developed world -- and maintained relatively low unemployment, the domestic boost was still needed. "If we were to simply withdraw stimulus that would pull the rug out from ... Read Full Story

The International Monetary Fund on Saturday said emergency stimulus measures must remain to avoid endangering a "nascent" economic recovery, as the G20 agreed here to maintain support. "An overarching risk is that the recovery stalls" owing to early exits from record-low interest rates and massive state cash injections, the IMF said in a report to coincide with a meeting of G20 finance ministers in St Andrews. "Premature exit from accommodative monetary and fiscal policies could undermine the nascent rebound, as the policy-induced rebound could be mistaken for a strong and durable recovery," the IMF said. The world's largest and top emerging economies on Saturday ... Read Full Story

The world's biggest economies have agreed a timetable on mutual monitoring of each other's economic policy aimed at preventing a fresh financial crisis, a G20 communique said on Saturday. G20 finance ministers followed up an agreement made at a September summit in Pittsburgh with a roadmap for progress at a meeting in St Andrews, outlining a four-stage programme to be tied-up by November 2010. World leaders at September's Pittsburgh G20 summit agreed a new system to coordinate economic decision-making and encourage stable, long-term growth. The new system is designed to ensure there is no repeat of last year's near-meltdown that notably saw the collapse ... Read Full Story

Tens of thousands of workers held a demonstration here Saturday to protest against a government plan they say is aimed at weakening unionism, witnesses said. The protestors from the Federation of Korean Trade Unions (FKTU) chanted slogans and waved banners, accusing the conservative government of President Lee Myung-Bak of seeking to destroy trade unions. A National Police Agency spokesman estimated the crowd at 60,000 people. They marched near the National Assembly, holding a large banner which read, "Let's save the trade union movement through general strikes." Thousands of riot police were deployed but there were no immediate reports of violence. The Labour Ministry wants ... Read Full Story