A look at economic developments around the globe (AP)

A look at economic developments and activities in the world's major stock markets Wednesday:

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Beijing-China raised a key interest rate for the third time this year as it tries to cool soaring inflation. The recent slowdown in some Chinese industries has prompted fears of more interest rate hikes could trigger a sharp fall. But many analysts say the Government should be able to avoid that.

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Lisbon, Portugal — in depth difficult financial situation of Portugal, with rates of loans to jump higher and stocks slump after its bonds were downgraded to junk status. Spain and Italy have been dragged into recession, adding new momentum to the sovereign debt crisis in Europe.

Moody's rating agency downgraded the debt of the four divisions on Portugal Tuesday, and said that the country probably will follow Greece into needing a second rescue package.

Portugal took a bailout of billions (112 billion dollars) euro78 by its European partners and the International Monetary Fund earlier this year after nervous investors began charging unsustainable steep returns on loans. The Lisbon stock market fell 2.7 percent. Bank shares took the brunt of sell-offs.

Madrid's main stock index fell 1.2 percent and the bond yields rose. Spain, a country much larger, up to now has managed to dodge the fallout from the continent's fiscal woes.

The jitters were felt in Italy, where stocks dropped 2.4 percent on concerns that spending cuts might not be enough to bring down the debt.

The FTSE 100 index of leading British shares closed down 0.4%, Germany DAX fell 0.1 percent and the CAC-40 in France was 0.4 per cent lower.

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WASHINGTON-the new head of the International Monetary Fund pledged to diversify the global organization of the loan and make it more open for developing countries.

Christine Lagarde is the first woman to lead the IMF. She takes after a sex scandal brought his predecessor, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, to resign.

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TOKYO Stocks were up — in Asia. 1.1 percent index Nikkei 225 climbed of Japan and South Korea's Kospi rose 0.4 percent. Hong Kong the Hang Seng Index fell 1 percent. The actions the Chinese mainland fell 0.2 percent. They closed the first Bank of the people made his announcement of the interest rate.

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Paris — the major banks in the euro area has met with hash out ways to help any new financial rescue package for Greece, as problems in Portugal revived concerns over the financial health of Europe and hit the stock markets in Spain and Italy.

The meeting of top executives from European banks in Paris ended with no public announcement of a deal, but plans for further discussions in the weeks to come.

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Athens — Hitting taxi driver blocked rush hour traffic to protest the Government's market reforms, as Prime Minister George Papandreou promised to see changes and take unpopular through a harder line against violent demonstrations.

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Berlin — German industrial Orders rose for a second month of may on the back of healthy orders home.

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Milan-Italy's Finance Minister said that the most "revolutionary" budget euro47 billion (68 billion dollars) three years of austerity are spending cuts in the country's notoriously heavy bureaucracy.

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SEOUL, South Korea — inflation, rising household debt and problems in the banking sector are a weight on the rapid economic recovery of South Korea by the global financial crisis, the new Finance Minister in the country said.

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London — The European Central Bank should increase interest rates on Thursday and to indicate that further increases were likely, as it tries to dampen down high inflation, despite the debt problems faced by smaller European countries.

Higher rates may be needed for Germany, where prices are rising fast. But they are likely to add to the growing concerns of some of the most indebted countries in the eurozone, such as Greece and Portugal.

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Berlin — Germany's Cabinet cleared the way for tax cuts in 2013, while approving a budget for next year in which spending remained more or less unchanged, with a significant reduction in new borrowing.

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MANILA, Philippines-the World Bank says the Philippines economic prospects remain favourable in 2011, with private consumption, investment, services and exports should post earnings.

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SYDNEY-Australia resumes its 350 million dollars a year of live cattle trade with Indonesia following a temporary ban on concerns that the animals were treated with cruelty, as were slaughtered.

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Mexico City — u.s. and Mexican Officials signed an agreement allowing each country's trucks to cross the main roads of other, implement a key provision of the 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement, after nearly two decades of bickering.

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