Brrr! Deep Freeze Chills Global Economy

C'mon, Al Gore, come out, come out wherever you are. Lecture us some more about this mythical global warming.

Hopes for a swift global recovery suffered a jolt yesterday as freezing winter weather contributed to a sudden drop in spending and confidence across several advanced economies.

Although policymakers predicted a bumpy rebound in global economic health, the raft of negative data in the US and Europe confounded analysts’ predictions and halted gains in equity markets.

The S&P 500 index closed 1.2 per cent down at 1,095, while the FTSE 100 index closed down 0.7 per cent at 5,315 and the Eurofirst 300 index closed down 1.1 per cent at 1,012.

Markets were most unnerved by an unexpected fall in US consumer confidence. According to the Conference Board, the global business group, Americans had turned more pessimistic about both present and future economic conditions.

Unexpected?