Bloomberg Businessweek reports that Japanese and Australian stock futures fell this week with Canon’s American Depository Receipts (ADRs) falling 0.3 percent and ADRs of Australian mining company HP Billiton falling 0.9 percent due to declining metal prices.
The recession in Europe is still having a significant impact on the global economy. The Bank of Spain purportedly stated that the Spanish economy contracted at a “significant pace” in 3Q12, with Spanish protesters taking to the streets in opposition of government austerity measures; much like protesters in Athens, Greece. Italian retail sales were also reported to have declined during July of this year.
Mikio Kumada, a Singapore-based strategist for LGT Capital Management commented: “Economic data is not improving. A sudden economic rebound would come close to a miracle and agreements on fiscal policy will be much harder to achieve than the recent monetary policy decisions.”
However, this news comes in contrast to a recent report which suggests that the printing industry is seeing profits increase according to a survey conducted by the Printing Industries of America, and to reports that the inkjet printing industry is continuing to see growth.