The Economic update – December 2012

• US – US Federal Reserve provided strong policy signals for maintaining its monetary stimulus settings.
• Europe – more worrying signs that Europe’s biggest economy, Germany, is weakening.
• China – encouraging signs of strengthening in both industrial and consumer sectors.
• Australia – the release of weak terms of trade data contrasted with strong gains in key mining company stocks.
• Global share markets finished 2012 strongly, driven by different factors across regions. The Australi…