International Business : Global Markets and Economic Update

FOREIGN STOCK MARKETS Stock index trends in native currencies and in dollars adjusted for currency fluctuations. The dollar-adjusted returns are what U.S. investors would realize.

Source: Morgan Stanley Capital International

MEXICAN STOCKS

The Bolsa index slid for a second day on Tuesday, losing 27.44 points to 2,215.69. But analysts said the market’s stair-step pattern to higher ground seems intact: Any profit taking seems to bring out a new herd of buyers. Traders said foreign buyers, in particular, remain eager to snap up stocks on weakness.

Meanwhile, Mexican companies continue to take advantage of foreign buyers’ appetite for stock: In the new-issues arena, financial services firm Grupo Financiero Serfin priced its offering of 15 million American Depository Receipts at $24.375 each. The stock will trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol SFN.

Source: D.A. Campbell

SPOTLIGHT: INDONESIA

Despite its high economic growth rate, unemployment and underemployment plague Indonesia because of rapid population growth--a 9% increase since 1988. The non-oil segment of the economy needs to grow at a rate close to 6% to absorb the growing labor force. Growth is expected to exceed 6% next year.

Sources: Bank of America; World Information Service