Macro economic

U.S.A 
The September minutes of the Federal Reserve's powerful Open Market Committee showed little change from its previous statements — which made bulls on Wall Street extremely happy. As expected, the Fed said that it planned to end its market-friendly bond-buying program, called quantitative easing, after this month. The Fed has been purchasing Treasury and mortgage-backed securities to keep long-term interest rates low. And the Fed showed no inclination to increase the key federal funds rate, currently near zero. In its statement, the Fed said that it plans to keep the fed funds rate at its current level for a "considerable time" after its bond-buying program ends. Many officials have been expecting the first rate increase by mid-2015. An improving U.S. job market led some officials to press for earlier increases. Weighing against that, the minutes showed that concerns about global growth and the disinflationary impact of a strong currency are giving officials pause about moving too quickly.

Eurozone 
Economic growth is set to slow in the eurozone, while remaining at current modest rates in most of the world's other large economies over the coming months, according to leading indicators released Wednesday by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. The leading indicators are the latest blow to hopes that the 18 nations that use the euro would embark on a sustained recovery this year, having put the worst of their fiscal and banking crises behind them. Instead of picking up, economic growth slowed in the first quarter, while it came to a halt in the second. The Paris-based research body's gauge of future economic growth indicates the remainder of 2014 won't be much better, and could even mark a return to contraction. They also suggest that the currency area will remain the global economy's weak spot. The eurozone's leading indicator began to rise in late 2012, foreshadowing the currency area's return to growth in the second quarter of 2013. It plateaued in the early part of this year, and has now fallen for three straight months, a development the OECD said points to "growth losing momentum." The leading indicators also pointed to weaker growth in Germany and Italy. They follow a series of data releases that have intensified concern that the eurozone's biggest economy may struggle to grow at all in the third quarter. Figures released Tuesday showed industrial output in Germany fell 4.0% in August. The figures came a day after a surprise decline of 5.7% in manufacturing orders for August, also the sharpest since January 2009, when the world was mired in financial crisis.

China 
Growth in China's services sector weakened slightly in
September as new business cooled, a private survey showed – a sign that the economy is still struggling to recover its growth momentum despite recent policy support. The services purchasing managers' index (PMI) compiled by HSBC/Markit edged down to 53.5 in September, after recording a 17-month high of 54.1 in August. A sub-index measuring new business fell to 53.2 in September from a 19-month high of 53.9 in August, but sub-indexes measuring employment and outstanding business both inched up, painting a mixed picture. The reading is consistent with the official survey released last week, which showed that the services sector grew at its slowest pace in eight months in September after new orders shrank for the first time since the 2008 global financial crisis. The weakness reinforced anticipation the government would unveil more stimulus measures to help achieve the government's growth target of around 7.5% this year. A reading above 50 in PMI surveys indicates an expansion in activity while one below that threshold points to a contraction. Growth in China's retail sales during the long "Golden Week" holiday slowed to 12.1% from a 13.6% rise in the same period last year, data from the Ministry of Commerce showed. Against the background of the recent sustained efforts by President Xi Jinping to crackdown on corruption, the ministry's survey showed brisk sales of clothing, shoes, jewellery, digital home appliances and cars during the period. The number of visits to major tourist sites rose but revenue from admissions fell for the holiday week, according to China National Tourism Administration figures on Tuesday, pointing to deeper discounts to attract travellers.