More evidence of the weakening of the global economy emerged Thursday as financial markets waited to see whether the Federal Reserve will announce new measures to stimulate growth in the United States.
A report from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development pointed to a slowdown in the coming months in Italy, China, India and Russia, with weak growth in France, and Germany — the two biggest economies of the struggling, 17-nation euro area.
The study focused on indicators that aim to anticipate turning points in economic activity. They show signs of slightly slower growth in Japan and the United States, while for Britain and Brazil they point tentatively to a pick-up in activity, albeit at a slow rate, the O.E.C.D. said.
A separate report from the O.E.C.D said business spending on research and development — one measure of economic strength — fell 4.5 percent in 2009 in the 34 countries that are members of the organization. Only France and South Korea bucked the trend, increasing their R.&D. spending by businesses.
Spending in Asian economies, including some like China and India which are not O.E.C.D. members, continued to increase. Year-on-year growth in research and development spending by Chinese businesses increased by 29.5 percent in 2010 and by 20.5 percent in South Korea and India.
That means that the crisis has accelerated China’s share in global research and development spending, which climbed from 7 percent in 2004 to 10.5 percent in 2008 and jumped to 13 percent in 2009, the report said.
Meanwhile, attention was focused Thursday on the United States, where the Fed was due to end a two-day meeting. Many investors hoped it would announce a third bond-buying program designed to jolt a lackluster economy.
European stocks were down at midday, apparently reflecting worries that the Fed might not take as big a step as many hoped. The Euro Stoxx 50, a barometer of euro zone blue chips, was down 0.57 percent. The FTSE 100 in Britain was down 0.02 percent.
The euro, however, rose against the dollar, trading at midday at $1.2906, compared with $1.2890 late Wednesday in New York.
There was some better news in the euro zone on Thursday, as Italy’s borrowing costs continued to drop. An auction of three-year debt sold out at its lowest rate in almost two years.
Last week the European Central Bank announced that it was ready to make unlimited bond purchases to help struggling euro zone nations if necessary, providing countries meet conditions. On Wednesday Germany's constitutional court approved the creation of a permanent bailout fund for the euro, and elections in the Netherlands did not increase the representation of political parties critical of the euro to the extent many had predicted.
Nicholas Spiro of Spiro Sovereign Strategy in London said there had been a “dramatic improvement in sentiment” towards the so-called peripheral euro zone countries, which include Italy, but added a note of caution.
“While there are grounds for more optimism since the E.C.B. announced the details of its bond-buying program, it is far too premature to claim that the euro zone crisis has been stemmed once and for all,” he said. “There are many pieces, in particular very contentious political ones, which need to fall into place over the next few weeks.”
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