Macquarie Group Ltd. (ASX:MQG) has entered into a joint venture with China Everbright Ltd (HKG:0165) to establish two funds to invest in infrastructure businesses in Greater China with a focus on core infrastructure.
US stocks plunged significantly overnight despite a better-than-expected US manufacturing survey data. Falls in Asia and Europe markets put heavy pressure on the US stocks. Shanghai stocks dropped 5.8% Monday.
US stocks fell overnight ahead of the Federal Reserve's latest decision on monetary policy and guidance on the outlook for recovery from the recession. The market was also weighed down by the worries that the banking sector has yet to fundamentally improve.
An encouraging employment report sent the US stocks to a more than nine months high on Friday. The Labor Department released a report that the country's unemployment rate unexpectedly dropped to 9.4 per cent, its first decline in 15 months.
US Stocks declined on Wednesday on a weak sales outlook from P & G and concerns over the service and labour sectors. Economic data showed an unexpected fall in activity in the service sector and larger-than-expected losses of private sector jobs.
International banks, such as UK-based Standard Chartered Plc (LON:STAN), HSBC (LON:HSBA) and Australia & New Zealand Banking Group (ASX:ANZ), devoted more efforts to strengthen their exposure in Asia market amid global economy downturn.
Wall Street closed at a nine-month high overnight boosted by earnings reports and encouraging economic data in US manufacturing activity and new car sales. Energy and materials companies also broadly lifted the market.
