World stocks shaky, yen resumes climb

WORLD stocks wavered yesterday on skepticism that governments can cushion a slippage in global growth, while the yen resumed its rally as Japan refrained from aggressive action to curb the currency's rise.

Mergers and acquisitions added some buoyancy to global stock indices, however. A US report on consumer spending offered hope for the largest contributor to the nation's gross domestic product but failed to reverse a bearish tone set by a string of other data suggesting the economy is slowing. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke last week detailed a struggling economy, even as he assured markets that the bank could provide stimulus if needed.

"I don't see any comfort in these words," said Koen De Leus, economist at KBC Securities. "They have done everything to save the economy, but it is faltering again. The US data are going to be disappointing and the stock market is likely to head lower in the next one to two months because of the grim economic outlook."

Reuters