VENTURE CAPITAL POST

Euro zone businesses performed much better than forecasters expected this month and China's vast factory sector grew a shade faster but there were worrying signs that the upturn could be short-lived.

Most major world economies are continuing to show stable growth momentum, but within the euro zone Germany and Italy are losing steam, the OECD said on Wednesday.

Federal Reserve officials want to tie an interest-rate rise to U.S. economic progress, but the minutes of their last policy meeting show they are struggling with how to come to grips with the dual threats of a stronger dollar and a global slowdown.

A second day of weak German data sent European markets into retreat on Tuesday with stocks, the euro and periphery euro zone government debt all knocked by the mounting evidence of an abrupt slowdown in the bloc's economic engine room.

Euro zone business grew at the slowest rate this year in September, reflecting falling demand in the region where new orders were the weakest in almost a year, surveys showed on Friday.

World markets were in hesitant mood on Tuesday as investors wondered what China's response would be to civil unrest in Hong Kong, while the U.S. dollar eased off the throttle after its biggest quarterly gain in six years.

On one side of the Atlantic they're trying to refill the punchbowl. On the other they're getting ready to take it away. This week, investors may get a clearer idea why.

Lending to euro zone households and companies contracted for the 28th month in a row in August, though at a slower pace, putting a keener spotlight on European Central Bank efforts to get credit flowing again.

Euro zone business activity has expanded at a slightly weaker pace than expected in September as firms cut prices for the 30th month in a row, a survey showed on Tuesday.

The European Central Bank will hand out the first round of its new four-year loans on Thursday, the flagship tool in a new stimulus package it hopes will stave off deflation and revive the ailing euro zone economy.

The euro zone's struggle to avoid another recession will take center stage in the coming week in the absence of major U.S. data, as investors mull whether the ECB's new asset-buying plan is a prelude to even more radical steps.

A drop in the highly volatile energy prices depressed euro zone producer prices in July as expected, underlining disinflationary pressures in the single currency area ahead of the European Central Bank's monetary policy meeting on Thursday.

Asian shares held firm while the euro hit one-year lows on Tuesday as investors increasingly expect the European Central Bank to expand liquidity as soon as next week to boost the sagging euro zone economy.

The euro fell to its lowest in nearly a year against a firmer dollar on Monday after the head of the European Central Bank said he was prepared to take action if inflation dropped further, raising expectations of quantitative easing.

The data released in a report by the European Central Bank on Friday saw the hesitation of financial institutions in extending credit to households and businesses despite the economic recovery of the Euro Zone.