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Politics : Formerly About Applied Materials -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: StanX Long who wrote (62314)	3/25/2002 1:12:52 AM
From: StanX Long	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 70976

Preview: Thoughts turn to rate rise Published: March 24 2002 19:57 \| Last Updated: March 24 2002 20:17 news.ft.com Although economic news last week remained encouraging, equity markets fell back as investors took profits from the strong gains earlier in the month. Thoughts have turned to how soon US interest rates might start rising again, with smaller countries such as Sweden and New Zealand already making increases. A highlight of this week's data will be the German Ifo survey on Monday, Europe's most influential guide to business sentiment. The March index is expected to reach its highest level since September, which would be its fifth consecutive rise. Last week, another German indicator, the ZEW expectations gauge, jumped 21 points to 71.2, its highest level since July 2000. Last week, the Dow Jones Industrial Average briefly hit its high for 2002 after the Federal Reserve declared its shift to a neutral policy bias, indicating it was no longer guarding against recession. The Dow subsequently fell back. The Japanese market is increasingly focused on domestic politics with Junichiro Koizumi's popularity taking centre-stage. Public support for the prime minister has declined since the dismissal of Makiko Tanaka, the foreign minister, in January. This week the US commerce department releases its final estimates of gross domestic product for the fourth quarter of 2001. Also on Thursday, the University of Michigan releases its consumer sentiment survey for March. On Friday, data on industrial production, unemployment and the consumer price index are due. The earnings season also picks up speed this week. Walgreen, the largest US drugstore chain, reports earnings today followed by Morgan Stanley tomorrow. ConAgra, the US food and agricultural products group, reports earnings on Thursday. Japanese investors will be watching where the stock market ends on Friday, the last trading day of the fiscal year.