Alex Tarrant presents 90 at 9 with news the average whole milk powder price at Fonterra's latest internet auction rose 3.6% from November. Prices are now up 95% from July. The Dow was up over 1% in late trade. Reports on Dubai's debt talks reassured investors, while early reports show both Chinese and US manufacturing expanded last month, Bloomberg reports. Chinese manufacturing expanded at its fastest rate in 5 years, while the US expansion was below forecasts. The Bank of Japan held an emergency meeting yesterday, prompting investors to speculate the central bank may be about to introduce full Quantitative Easing again. However, many were disappointed when the BoJ 'only' said it would make available 10 trillion yen to the banks in short term loans. Many analysts are saying the decision was a result of political pressure from the newly elected government, Reuters reports. The Reserve Bank of Australia hiked its Official Cash Rate yesterday by 25 basis points to 3.75%. See more on this move at our sister site interestratenews.com.au. Westpac in Australia responded by hiking its variable mortgage rate by 45 basis points. The New Zealand dollar rose by 1 USc overnight to around 72.8 USc.
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