The Bank of Japan has become the latest central bank to boost monetary stimulus. On Tuesday, it increased its asset purchase programme by 10 trillion yen to about 65 trillion yen even as it kept its benchmark interest rate unchanged at between zero and 0.1 percent.
Last week, the Bank of England had made a similar move, a move seemingly justified by the latest UK inflation figure. The Office for National Statistics reported on Tuesday that consumer price inflation fell to 3.6 percent in January -- the lowest rate since November 2010 -- from 4.2 percent in December.
The euro area reported a less welcome fall on Tuesday. Industrial production fell 1.1 percent in December after having been unchanged in November.
Meanwhile, Europe's bailout of Greece is back in doubt after its finance ministers cancelled a Brussels meeting slated for Wednesday that had been scheduled to discuss the bailout.
And that was not the only bad news for Greece. It reported on Tuesday that its economy shrank 7 percent from a year ago in the fourth quarter, worse than the 5 percent contraction in the third quarter.
The US, though, provided some positive data on Tuesday. Retail sales rose 0.4 percent in January.
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