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+%3Cp%3E+Consumer+prices+were+flat+in+November+as+Americans+paid+less+for+cars+and+gasoline%2C+a+further+sign+of+a+cooldown+in+inflation+that+could+give+the+Federal+Reserve+more+room+to+help+a+still+weak+economy.%3C%2Fp%3E+%3Cp%3EThe+Labor+Department+said+on+Friday+the+Consumer+Price+Index+was+unchanged+last+month.+Economists+had+expected+an+increase+of+0.1+percent.%3C%2Fp%3E+%3Cp%3EPrices+spiked+earlier+in+the+year%2C+but+the+report+showed+the+trend+has+shifted.+Over+the+past+12+months%2C+prices+have+risen+3.4+percent.+That+marked+a+second+monthly+decline+from+a+three-year+high+in+September.%3C%2Fp%3E+%3Cp%3EThe+report+%22leaves+the+Fed+ample+cover+for+any+additional+monetary+policy+accommodation+they+may+see+warranted+in+the+New+Year%2C%22+said+Ian+Lyngen%2C+a+bond+strategist+at+CRT+Capital+Group+in+Stamford%2C+Connecticut.%3C%2Fp%3E+%3Cp%3EStill%2C+some+of+the+data+could+give+pause+to+policymakers+at+the+central+bank.%3C%2Fp%3E+%3Cp%3EOutside+food+and+energy%2C+prices+climbed+a+faster-than-expected+0.2+percent.+These+so-called+core+prices+rose+2.2+percent+in+the+12+months+through+November%2C+up+from+2.1+percent+in+October.%3C%2Fp%3E+%3Cp%3E%22Core+inflation+…+is+a+bit+more+persistent+than+what+some+people+had+expected%2C%22+said+Jeremy+Lawson%2C+an+economist+at+BNP+Paribas+in+New+York.%3C%2Fp%3E+%3Cp%3EEconomists+polled+by+Reuters+this+week+saw+inflation+slowing+to+2.6+percent+during+the+first+quarter+of+next+year%2C+which+could+help+convince+the+Fed+to+do+more+to+bring+down+the+country%27s+8.6+percent+unemployment+rate.%3C%2Fp%3E+%3Cp%3EPrices+for+U.S.+government+debt+rose+slightly+on+Friday+as+investors+saw+the+data+opening+the+door+a+bit+wider+to+Fed+stimulus.+U.S.+stocks+rose+and+the+dollar+fell+against+the+euro+as+investors+remained+on+edge+over+the+euro+zone%27s+debt+crisis.%3C%2Fp%3E+%3Cp%3EThe+U.S.+recovery+has+picked+up+momentum+over+the+past+few+months%2C+but+the+Fed+on+Tuesday+warned+about+turmoil+in+financial+markets+abroad+and+it+kept+the+option+of+further+monetary+action+on+the+table+%3Ca+href%3D%22http%3A%2F%2Fcash-advance-nofax.com%22%3Ecash+advance+to+savings+account%3C%2Fa%3E%3C%21–+.+–%3E.%3C%2Fp%3E+%3Cp%3EFED+EASE+STILL+IN+PLAY%3C%2Fp%3E+%3Cp%3EIn+an+appearance+before+Congress+on+Friday%2C+New+York+Federal+Reserve+Bank+President+William+Dudley+warned+that+a+worsening+of+Europe%27s+sovereign+debt+crisis+could+hit+U.S.+banks%2C+potentially+tightening+credit+for+households+and+businesses.%3C%2Fp%3E+%3Cp%3E%22Europe%27s+problems+are+a+serious+risk+for+the+U.S.+economic+outlook%2C%22+he+said.%3C%2Fp%3E+%3Cp%3EIn+recent+months%2C+cooling+gasoline+prices+have+left+more+money+for+consumers+to+spend+on+other+things%2C+helping+the+economy+gain+some+steam.+In+November+alone%2C+gasoline+prices+fell+2.4+percent.%3C%2Fp%3E+%3Cp%3EThe+effects+of+Japan%27s+earthquake+disaster+in+March%2C+which+disrupted+global+supply+chains+and+pushed+auto+prices+higher+earlier+in+the+year%2C+are+also+subsiding.+Prices+for+new+vehicles+fell+0.3+percent+in+November.%3C%2Fp%3E+%3Cp%3EPrices+for+food+rose+0.1+percent.+Within+the+core+index%2C+prices+for+apparel+jumped+0.6+percent+%2C+but+the+increase+in+the+department%27s+main+gauge+of+homeownership+costs+cooled+to+0.1+percent+from+0.2+percent+in+October.%3C%2Fp%3E+%3Cp%3EMany+economists+have+said+the+Fed+might+try+to+give+the+economy+a+bit+of+help+at+a+meeting+on+January+24-25+by+laying+out+forecasts+for+interest+rates+that+could+underscore+its+willingness+to+keep+borrowing+costs+ultra-low+for+a+prolonged+period.%3C%2Fp%3E+%3Cp%3EThe+U.S.+central+bank+has+held+overnight+interest+rates+near+zero+since+December+2008+and+has+bought+%242.3+trillion+in+government+and+mortgage-related+bonds+in+a+further+attempt+to+stimulate+a+robust+recovery.%3C%2Fp%3E+%3Cp%3EFed+watchers+also+think+the+U.S.+central+bank+could+step+up+bond+buying+later+in+2012.+A+Reuters+poll+on+Tuesday+found+most+Wall+Street+economists+think+the+central+bank+will+undertake+a+new+program+of+buying+mortgage-backed+securities.%3C%2Fp%3E++%3Cp%3E%3Ca+href%3D%27http%3A%2F%2Fwww.reuters.com%2Fassets%2Fprint%3Faid%3DUSTRE7BE12S20111216%27+rel%3D%27nofollow%27%3ERead+more%3C%2Fa%3E%3C%2Fp%3E+

The worst drought in Texas’ history has led to the largest-ever one-year decline in the leading cattle-state’s cow herd, raising the likelihood of increased beef prices as the number of animals decline and demand remains strong.

Since Jan. 1, the number of cows in Texas has dropped by about 600,000, a 12 percent decline from the roughly 5 million cows the state had at the beginning of the year, said David Anderson, who monitors beef markets for the Texas AgriLife Extension Service. That’s likely the largest drop in the number of cows any state has ever seen, though Texas had a larger percentage decline from 1934 to 1935, when ranchers were reeling from the Great Depression and Dust Bowl, Anderson said.

Anderson said many cows were moved “somewhere there’s grass,” but lots of others were slaughtered. He said that in Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Louisiana and Arkansas, about 200,000 more cattle were slaughtered this year, a 20 percent increase over last year.

That extra supply could help meet increased demand from China and other countries, but the loss of cows likely will mean fewer cattle in future years.

“Consumers are going to pay more because we’re going to have less beef,” Anderson said. “Fewer cows, calves, less beef production and increasing exports.”

The U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates that beef prices will increase up to 5.5 in 2012, in part because the number of cattle has declined. That follows a 9 percent increase in beef prices in the past year.

Oklahoma, the nation’s second-largest cattle producer, also saw about a 12 percent drop in cows, Oklahoma State University agriculture economist Derrell Peel said.

Anderson said beef production nationally will be down 4 percent next year.

In Texas, the problem is primarily due to the worst single-year drought in the state’s history. From January through November the state got just 46 percent of its normal rainfall of about 26 inches.

The drought was the result of a La Nina weather pattern, which brings drier than normal conditions to the southwestern states paydayloans. Forecasters have said La Nina is back, meaning another dry year for Texas, Oklahoma and other nearby states.

The lack of rain coupled with blistering summer heat caused pastures to wither, leaving rancher with the choice of buying feed for the cattle or selling them.

Betsy Ross, a 75-year-old rancher from the small central Texas community of Granger, said she sold all but 80 of the 225 grass-fed animals she had in January. With feed costs up 40 percent and her pasture parched, Ross said she didn’t have any other option.

“It’s not a profitable year, heavens no,” she said. “If you can’t keep them on grass when they’re grass fed you’re not going to make any money.”

About 200 miles north in Sulphur Springs, Texas, part-time rancher Dwyatt Bell said producers in his part of the state sold off up to half their herds. Bell said high prices for cattle have helped offset increases expenses, but many ranchers still are struggling to stay afloat.

“It’s been a rough year,” he said.

Across Texas, the drought has caused an estimated $5.2 billion in losses to farmers and livestock producers, and that figure is expected to rise

Nationally, the number of cows has dropped by an estimated 617,000 this year, a 2 percent decline from the 30.9 million animals on Jan. 1. That number would be larger, but states in northern plains such as North Dakota, South Dakota and Nebraska, increased their cow herd.

Anderson said it’s unclear whether high beef prices would hurt U.S. sales or limit exports. The U.S. is the world third largest consumer of beef per capita at 85.5 pounds per year. Uruguay is first at 137 pounds per capita.

“Exports have been the strongest part of beef demand all year and they’re expected to remain so but higher prices should constrain their growth,” he said.

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The federal government is moving ahead with the first auction of offshore petroleum leases in the Gulf of Mexico since the Deepwater Horizon disaster _ despite a lawsuit challenging the sale.

Interior Department spokeswoman Melissa Schwartz said bids will be opened as scheduled on Wednesday in New Orleans.

Four environmental groups are challenging a study used to clear the sale _ but aren’t seeking a federal court order to stop the auction. Instead, an attorney said a judge might decide later to throw out the results if he agrees with the suit.

The sale covers the western Gulf off the coast of Texas. Officials said the auction has attracted 241 bids from 20 companies on 191 tracts.

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An economic planning conference of China’s top leaders is expected to endorse fine-tuning of policies to support growth while seeking to keep inflation in check.

The powerful Politburo of the ruling Communist Party met last week and announced plans to keep a “prudent” monetary policy that would curb price hikes while adopting “pro-active” spending to promote growth. That has set the tone for the meeting in Beijing that begins Monday.

China has made headway in slowing price hikes but weak demand for exports from the European Union and U.S. has raised worries the economy may slow too quickly, worsening labor unrest just as the party prepares for a succession to a new generation of leaders next year.

Since leaders are stressing continuity, no major shifts in policy are expected from the closed door economic work conference, which reportedly will end on Wednesday.

Export growth has fallen steadily since hitting a peak of nearly 36 percent in March, and data released over the weekend showed exports slowed further in November, as did imports, with the overall trade surplus plunging 35 percent.

Adding to those concerns is a cooling of the property sector _ a mainstay of growth but also politically sensitive due to prices having surged beyond what most ordinary families can afford.

China’s economic growth abated to 9.1 percent in the July-September quarter from 9.5 percent in the first half of the year, but many economists are forecasting it will fall below 9 percent in 2012 payday loan.

“We believe the risks are skewed to the downside,” Standard Chartered Bank said in a report released Monday. It said that for China to maintain a growth rate of 8.1 percent next year, it would need to keep relatively high rates of capital investment that may prove difficult giving funding shortages for banks, property developers, local governments and many small businesses.

The report also noted China’s struggle to “rebalance” its economy toward greater reliance on domestic consumer demand, rather than exports and investment in construction.

“Despite talk of ‘rebalancing,’ progress has been limited in recent years,” the report said. The share of investment in the overall economy exceeded 50 percent last year, up from 43 percent in 2008.

Instead of the massive stimulus spending ordered in late 2008 to counter the global crisis, analysts say authorities are more likely to rely on tax cuts and administrative measures to help encourage more consumer spending.

But while Beijing strives to encourage more domestic demand and reduce its reliance on construction investment and exports to drive growth, it is also vowing to focus more on boosting its trade with emerging economies that are more dynamic than those in the U.S. and crisis stricken Europe.

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House Republican leaders previewed legislation to extend Social Security payroll tax cuts and long-term unemployment benefits at a meeting of the rank and file Thursday, aiming for a vote next week.

One official who attended the closed-door meeting said lawmakers responded particularly favorably to a provision that would assure construction of an oil pipeline from Canada to Texas, despite a veto threat from President Barack Obama.

The measure has been in the drafting stage for more than a week as House Speaker John Boehner and other leaders try to coax lawmakers to support a payroll tax cut extension that critics say has not contributed to job creation.

Boehner said Thursday he believed he had enough support to start pushing a payroll tax cut through the House next week.

In addition to extending the Social Security payroll tax cut and benefits for the long-term unemployed, the measure has been broadened to avert a threatened 27 percent cut in payments to doctors who treat Medicare patients. All three items carry a Dec. 31 deadline for action.

The House measure varies on several points from legislation that Obama and congressional Democrats want, but the president seemed eager on Wednesday to draw a line at items he described as extraneous.

His veto threat was specifically linked to any requirement for the construction of the Keystone XL oil pipeline, a project that he recently put on hold until after the 2012 election.

“Efforts to tie a whole bunch of other issues to what’s something that they should be doing anyway will be rejected by me,” he said.

Obama did not say which other items he had in mind.

Republicans said they welcomed a fight over the pipeline, which they have described as shovel-ready and promising 20,000 new jobs at a time of high unemployment.

“We are working on a bill to stop a tax hike, protect Social Security, reform unemploym

ent insurance and create jobs,” said Michael Steel, spokesman for House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio. “If President Obama threatens to veto it over a provision that creates American jobs, that’s a fight we’re ready to have.”

Obama would lower the 6.2 percent payroll tax that workers normally pay to 3.1 percent next year, part of his effort to breathe life into the country’s ailing job market. He also wants to trim the payroll taxes that employers pay to give them an incentive to hire people.

The House bill would drop next year’s payroll tax to 4.2 percent, the same as this year’s level, with no tax breaks for companies. It would be financed by extending the current pay freeze on federal workers through 2015 and a host of smaller savings, including charging higher Medicare premiums to higher-earning seniors.

A 2 percentage point reduction in the payroll tax means a tax cut of $1,000 to an earner making $50,000 a year.

A similar battle is brewing in the Democratic-run Senate, where leaders plan a symbolic vote as early as Thursday that is designed for political purposes.

That Democratic-written bill would lower next year’s payroll tax to 3.1 percent. It is financed chiefly by a 1.9 percent surtax on income over $1 million, a proposal that is almost universally opposed by Republicans, who say it would discourage business owners from hiring.

GOP senators are expected to easily kill the measure, but Democrats hope the roll call will produce fodder for campaign ads against Republicans.

Asked Wednesday by reporters whether he might eventually accept spending cuts to pay for the bill, Reid showed some flexibility.

“We’re ruling nothing out, OK?” Reid said, other than budget cuts to federal agencies, which have already been sliced twice this year.

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They were lined up 300 deep before the store opened at 8 a.m.

Fans of Maple Leaf Gardens and Loblaws came to see how Canada’s most famous hockey arena looked now that it’s home to the supermarket chain’s newest urban grocery store.

They came from outside the city, from places like Malton, or from Toronto neighbourhoods, like Forest Hill and Riverdale. Ordinary citizens, hockey players and local politicians were among the first customers.

They weren’t disappointed.

The store, with its soaring ceilings, blonde wood, grey concrete and black tiles, forms a hip urban backdrop to a smorgasbord of fresh and prepared food the company hopes will cement its reputation as a leader in food retailing.

“The Loblaw store you’re about to shop, in our judgment, re-imagines a large urban supermarket at once recognizing the diversity of the neighbourhood that surrounds it and the national significance of the site,” Loblaw executive chairman Galen G. Weston said just prior to the opening.

The store pays homage to its past as Canada’s best known hockey arena, from the original lights, exposed brick and Maple Leaf-shaped wall sculpture in the atrium made from arena seats to the red dot on the floor in aisle 25 that marks centre ice.

But it’s also Loblaw’s biggest bet on its future since Weston took over from his father, W. Galen Weston, five years ago.

The store is the first full-service conventional grocery store the company has built in 12 years, Weston told reporters. It follows an ill-fated expansion into superstores that carried both food and general merchandise.

“I’m a Leaf fan. I’ve been a season ticket holder for over 30 years. I saw games here. This has great memories for me. I’m really happy they left a big historical site,” said Mike Seiden, who lives in Forest Hill but came down to see what the buzz was all about.

“I met Galen Weston. And his wife. I got a picture with him. He was signing autographs,” Seiden added. “He’s a great guy. I love him.”

Paula Firmino and Reg McLean, who live in Toronto’s Riverdale neighborhood, also stopped to congratulate Weston on the store and get their picture taken with him payday loan.

“After all the hype I wanted to see what it was really like. I love it. What they’ve done here is make it an experience to shop,” Firmino said.

“There was such a shortage of grocery stores downtown for many years. Now, with all the condos being built, it’s nice to have a place to walk to and shop, other than those tiny little places everywhere where everything is very expensive and you don’t get much of a selection,” McLean added.

Former city councilor Kyle Rae, who represented the area, said he was delighted with how the store had turned out. “The attention to detail is remarkable. For the community, it’s a real win, a great grocery store. For the rest of the city it’s going to be a destination to come and see what’s been done here.”

Former Toronto Maple Leafs hockey player Dickie Duff recalled how the Gardens was home to him for the 10 years he played with the Leafs in the 1950s and ‘60s.

“The Loblaw guys deserve a lot of credit. They’ve done a super nice job,” said Duff, who clinched the 1962 Stanley Cup for the Leafs when he scored the winning goal against the Chicago Blackhawks in Game 6.

Some of the store’s features, such as its in-house executive chef and kitchen, will be unique to the Gardens location, said Jane Marshall, executive vice-president of Loblaw Properties division.

The kitchen serves the “Canteen,” which serves “prêt-a-manger” style fresh ready made sandwiches and salads.

The store features a sushi bar run by its subsidiary T&T Supermarkets, an Asian food chain.

The store serves a potential market of about 100,000 people, who live in the area, and another 25 to 30 per cent who work in the surrounding office towers and retail outlets, Marshall said.

It’s also the only downtown grocery store with parking, she noted. One of the biggest challenges of the renovation was digging under the building to add 154 underground parking spaces, she said.

At 82,000 square feet, the store is considered large by inner city standards though Loblaw operates bigger stores in suburban markets.

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If all goes as planned, the long-vacant Jefferson Arms will pulse with activity after a $106 million transformation that will convert it to a home for hundreds of young educators and a regional headquarters of Teach for America.

Work could begin next summer if McGowan Brothers Development meets its timetable for getting federal new markets tax credits and other public incentives as part of the financing to renovate what is among downtown’s largest empty buildings. Construction would take about 18 months, said Tim McGowan, who runs the company with brothers Bill, Seamus and Sean.

“The plan for the building is pretty much to bring it back to its original form,” McGowan said.

Removal of exterior panels installed in the 1950s on the two lower floors and replication of the terra cotta beneath is part of the plan, he said. McGowan Development also plans to restore the two-level lobby atrium, damaged from a leaky roof, and install a rooftop pool.

Key to the project is the agreement by Teach for America to move its St. Louis operation to the building, which is on the National Register of Historic Places. Scott Baier, the organization’s executive director in St. Louis, said Teach for America had agreed to occupy 5,000 square feet of space at the rehabbed Jefferson Arms. The agreement includes plans to later increase the space by an additional 6,000 square feet. Baier said Teach for America was outgrowing its current office at 1204 Washington Avenue.

Even more important to McGowan Development than filling some office space is the potential of renting hundreds of Jefferson Arms apartments to young teachers. McGowan said those doing their two-year Teach for America commitment to teach in inner-city schools would be able stretch their $36,000 salaries by paying cut-rate rent of about $675 a month for a two-bedroom, two-bathroom loft apartment.

Baier said as many as 150 new teachers would arrive in St. Louis in 2014, when the redone Jefferson Arms should be ready. McGowan said he hopes 250 teachers will eventually live in the building. The rehabbed building would have 450 to 500 apartments. Those not rented to teachers will be offered at market rates, McGowan said.

Pyramid Construction, the once high-flying downtown developer, paid $19 million for Jefferson Arms in 2006 and had planned to convert it to condos for senior housing. Pyramid collapsed in 2008 without starting work on the project although it cleared the building of tenants. Since then, the building has sat empty.

McGowan Development is trying to revive the building with David Jump, the investor who bought the 13-story, 500,000-square-foot building last year. An arm of Citicorp, which foreclosed on the block-wide building in 2009 for $5.5 million, sold it to AB Acres, a corporation held by Jump.

The building occupies a prime spot on Tucker Boulevard and is among downtown’s most historic structures. Built as the Hotel Jefferson, it went up in time for the 1904 World’s Fair. The then-posh, 400-room establishment was the headquarters hotel for the 1904 and 1916 Democratic Party national conventions. It was later expanded to more than 900 rooms and hosted a who’s who of notable visitors for decades before sliding into disrepair.

McGowan said the building’s 360-car garage, part of the hotel’s 1920s expansion and remarkable then for its innovative design, was an important part of the new project. The garage’s parking fees cover the current debt service and taxes on the Jefferson Arms, he said.

But the project is more about people than cars. McGowan said he hoped Teach for America would draw additional education-related nonprofits that would fill one-time hotel space and provide business for a conference center planned in what had been the hotel’s “grand hall.” A charter school would be another welcome component, he said.

Availability of a large conference center would increase the number of meetings Teach for America holds in St. Louis, Baier said. Cost is a big factor, said Baier, adding that a conference site this year in Kansas City was a $55 cab ride from the airport. In comparison, downtown St. Louis has competitive hotel rates and is a $3.75 MetroLink ride from Lambert-St. Louis International Airport, he noted.

Baier said the decision to move to the Jefferson Arms grew out of conversations with U.S. Bancorp’s Community Development Corp., which has invested in several downtown projects. Zack Boyers, the corporation’s chief executive, put Baier in touch with the McGowans.

“For us, it’s a win-win,” Baier said. “We love working with these guys.”

Matt Philpott, director of the development corporation’s New Markets program, said the redone Jefferson Arms “would bring a lot of people and activity to downtown” and increase demand for more services nearby.

The St. Louis project is modeled in part after Teach for America’s home in Baltimore.

Seawall Development of Baltimore spent about $20 million to renovate an abandoned can factory near Johns Hopkins University as Miller’s Court, which houses Teach for America’s Baltimore office, other nonprofits and about 100 apartments. Thibault Manekin, a Seawall principal, said the McGowans visited Miller’s Court this year.

“They spent the day with us, just touring around and brainstorming,” Manekin said.

New markets, plus state and historic preservation tax credits, are essential to such projects, said Manekin, adding that in exchange for incentives, the developments spur neighborhood revitalization.

Miller’s Court, opened in 2009, brought together from across the country new teachers who had been unfamiliar with Baltimore before joining Teach for America. The project also returned an abandoned building to active use and helped revive what had been a “forgotten” neighborhood, Manekin said.

Courtney Cass, Teach for America’s leader in Baltimore, said teachers with her group occupy about 70 apartments at Miller’s Court. The building has a waiting list, she added.

She and Baier said that many teachers stayed in their new cities after they completed their Teach for America work. Some continue to teach; others start businesses. In any event, the young, college-educated people energize their new home cities, Cass and Baier said.

“Getting top talent to stay here is what is really important,” Baier said.

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LONDON — The collapse of talks aimed at reducing the staggering U.S. budget deficit weighed on world markets Tuesday but failed to stifle a rebound in Europe.

Stocks took a pummeling on Monday after a so-called supercommittee in Congress failed to reach a deal to cut the U.S. federal budget deficit by $1.2 trillion over 10 years. While not entirely unexpected, the failure heightened worries that political bickering — in the U.S. and Europe — will hurt efforts to cut debt during a period of declining economic growth.

European countries are locked in a debate over how to provide a lasting solution to their debt crisis, which is causing borrowing rates to rise to dangerous highs for ever-larger countries.

Many countries would like the European Central Bank to step up its bond purchases, which have the effect of keeping down borrowing rates. It currently buys bonds in limited amounts, but experts say it needs to expand the program significantly if it is to be effective.

Germany, however, opposes such a move for fear it would create inflation and saddle the central bank with bad loans.

Berlin is also against issuing eurobonds — debt backed by all 17 eurozone nations — that the European Commission is pushing for this week. Chancellor Angela Merkel is worried it would expose German taxpayers to irresponsible spending in other countries and erode pressure on governments to reform their economies.

As the leaders struggle to find common ground, the markets remained on edge.

Spain was forced to pay sharply higher interest rates in an auction of short-term debt, suggesting investor remain wary of the country’s financial prospects despite a new, center-right government coming to power this week.

European stocks were up slightly after huge losses on Monday, as some investors sought bargains. Britain’s FTSE 100 added 0.6 percent to 5,251.46 while Germany’s DAX rose 1.1 percent to 5,664.73 and France’s CAC-40 gained 1.0 percent to 2,922.81.

Wall Street was headed for a soft opening, with Dow Jones industrial futures flat to 11,519 and S&P 500 futures up 0.5 percent at 1,196.

Shares in Asia struggled to make headway after Monday’s losses on Wall Street. Japan’s Nikkei 225 index fell 0.4 percent to 8,314.74, its lowest close since March 2009.

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 dropped 0.7 percent to 4,133. China’s Shanghai Composite Index edged 0.1 percent lower to 2,412.63. Benchmarks in Taiwan, Malaysia and New Zealand also fell.

But Hong Kong’s Hang Seng erased early losses, rising 0.1 percent to end at 18,251.59 and South Korea’s Kospi index rose 0.3 percent to 1,826.28.

Clouds are gathering in Asia, where Singapore — seen as a bellwether of Western demand because of its very high reliance on trade — said Monday its economy would likely suffer a sharp slowdown in 2012 as export orders from developed countries wane.

“I think we are looking at maybe 2 percent growth for the entire world. For a normal year, global economic growth will be like 4 percent, but now it has to revise down to about 2 percent, so you are taking out a big chunk of the GDP … around the world,” said Francis Lun, managing director of Lyncean Holdings in Hong Kong.

Losses among Asian stocks were broad-based and included banks and consumer shares.

Hong Kong-listed China Construction Bank and Australia & New Zealand Banking Group both fell 1.1 percent. Hong Kong-listed GOME Electrical Appliances slid 1.9 percent and China Garments Co. lost 2.3 percent.

Mainland Chinese shares in power, food and travel companies led the gains while shares in chemical, aviation and auto companies weakened. Air China Ltd. lost 5.5 percent while Bright Food (Group) Co. gained 3 percent.

In currency trading, the euro rose to $1.3533 from $1.3496 late Monday in New York. The dollar was roughly unchanged at 76.93 yen.

Benchmark crude for January delivery was up 93 cents at $97.85 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract fell 75 cents to settle at $96.92 in New York on Monday.

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ROME

Greece’s incoming prime minister is due to name his cabinet Friday, a day after being appointed to head an interim coalition government that will push through a new European debt deal and secure continued bailout funding to prevent a catastrophic default.

Former European Central Bank vice president Lucas Papademos held talks with the country’s main political parties late into Thursday night to determine who would staff his cabinet, ahead of the formal swearing in early Friday afternoon.

Papademos’ appointment capped two weeks of a political crisis that threatened to derail an EU plan to get a grip on the Greek debt crisis and raised questions about the country’s continued presence in the eurozone.

He was named to take over from outgoing prime Minister George Papandreou, who agreed to step aside half way through his four-year term.

Although the composition of the new cabinet had not been announced by midmorning, many key ministerial positions were expected to remain unchanged, with Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos widely expected to retain his post.

Venizelos was deeply involved in negotiating the latest debt deal _ a package agreed as recently as Oct. 27. The euro130 billion ($177 billion) debt deal took months to work out, and includes provisions for private bondholders to forgive 50 percent _ or some euro100 billion _ of their Greek debt holdings.

The latest political turmoil was sparked by Papandreou’s Oct. 31 surprise announcement that he would put the deal to a referendum. His plan infuriated European leaders, rocked global markets and led many of his own Socialist party lawmakers to rebel and call for his resignation.

Papandreou withdrew the public vote plan after the main conservative opposition said they backed the deal, and agreed to step aside.

After days of intense power-sharing talks, Papandreou’s Socialists and the conservatives, led by Antonis Samaras, along with a smaller right-wing party, appointed Papademos as interim premier.

Papademos’ government will be called on to pass the debt deal and secure the next euro8 billion installment of the country’s initial euro110 billion bailout. Without the funds, Greece will default in a matter of weeks.

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