Overview

The Case-Shiller index of home prices in 20 American cities fell by 1% in October, the fourth monthly decline in a row. Retail spending in America rose by 5.5% in the 50 days before Christmas. That beat the 4% increase in the same period of 2009.

Japanese consumer prices rose by just 0.1% in the year to November; the series excluding the volatile prices of fresh foods fell by 0.5%. Industrial production grew by 1% in the same month, the first increase since May.

China's central bank increased its baseline interest rate by 25 basis points, to 5.81%, as part of an effort to rein in inflation. It was the second increase in just over two months.

France's official statisticians revised their estimates of the country's GDP growth down a shade. The figure for the second quarter was shaved from 0.7% to 0.6%; that for the third was trimmed from 0.4% to 0.3%. Growth in the year to the third quarter was put at 1.7%, down from 1.8%.

Singapore's annual rate of consumer-price inflation rose to 3.8% in November, the highest since January 2009.

Taiwan's industrial production grew by 19.4% in the year to November, having risen by 14.5% in the year to October.

The growth of manufacturing output in Thailand slowed to 5.6% in the year to November from 6.0% in October. Exports grew by 28.5% in the year to November; the pace accelerated from 15.7% in October.