Europe Debt Crisis Threatens Asian Growth Keith Bedford/Bloomberg
Factory workers assemble lithium ion batteries at the China BAK Battery Inc. facility in Tianjin, China.
Factory workers assemble lithium ion batteries at the China BAK Battery Inc. facility in Tianjin, China. Photographer: Keith Bedford/Bloomberg
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Europe Debt Crisis Threatens Asian Growth Nelson Ching/Bloomberg
Workers manufacture cotton yarn at a factory in Dali county, Shaanxi province, China.
Workers manufacture cotton yarn at a factory in Dali county, Shaanxi province, China. Photographer: Nelson Ching/Bloomberg
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Europe Crisis Threatens Asian Economies Forbes Conrad/Bloomberg
Workers assemble air conditioners at Gree Electric Appliances Inc.'s factory in Zhuhai, Guangdong province, China.
Workers assemble air conditioners at Gree Electric Appliances Inc.'s factory in Zhuhai, Guangdong province, China. Photographer: Forbes Conrad/Bloomberg
Australia’s central bank cut interest rates for the first time since 2009 and a Chinese manufacturing index slid, stoking concern that Europe’s debt crisis is weighing on Asia’s export-dependent economies.
The Reserve Bank of Australia today reduced its key lending rate to 4.5 percent from 4.75 percent, saying Europe’s woes are starting to hit Asian trade. In China, a purchasing managers’ index fell to 50.4, the lowest level since February 2009, while South Korea reported the smallest gain in exports in two years.
Asian stocks fell for a second day as slowing growth in the region threatens to limit a global expansion already constrained by elevated unemployment in the U.S. and Europe’s crisis. The Chinese report showed a contraction in export orders, fueling speculation that Premier Wen Jiabao may loosen policies to support the world’s second-biggest economy.
