A look at economic developments and activity in major stock markets around the world Monday
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LONDON  British Prime Minister David Cameron warned that Europe’s new fiscal pact, aimed at fixing the euro, faces significant political hurdles, while investors and ratings agencies said the deal was insufficient to fix the continent’s debt problems.
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LONDON  Stocks and the euro dropped sharply as investors worried that Europe’s new pact aimed at fixing the continent’s debt crisis would be insufficient.
Britain’s FTSE 100 fell 1.8 percent. Germany’s DAX plunged 3.4 percent and France’s CAC-40 lost 2.6 percent. Italy’s main stock index slumped 3.8 percent while its bond yields rose sharply.
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TOKYO  Asian stocks mostly closed higher, as they caught up with the gains made in Europe and the U.S. on Friday.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 index jumped 1.4 percent. South Korea’s Kospi added 1.3 percent nd benchmarks in Singapore, Taiwan, Australia and Indonesia also rose.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng swung from early gains to end trading in the red, albeit marginally. China’s Shanghai Composite Index fell 1 percent as a three-day economic conference of Chinese leaders got under way.
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ROME  Italian financial market jitters worsened as workers angry about government austerity reforms went on strike and held nationwide rallies while investors turned skeptical about an EU pact to save the euro.
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ATHENS, Greece  Greece’s negotiations with international debt inspectors on a second rescue loan package are “difficult and critical,” Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos said after initial talks on the package to keep the debt-crippled country solvent while easing its crushing debt burden.
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MUMBAI, India  India’s industrial production slid 5.1 percent in October, helping drive the rupee to a fresh record low against the dollar  more signs of the reversal of fortunes in Asia’s third-largest economy.
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RIGA, Latvia  Latvia’s largest bank scrambled to head off a run among depositors who were gripped by rumors of the bank’s imminent ruin.
Source: Associated Press