Tokyo - Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 Stock Average rose 4 per cent Thursday on March industrial output data and optimism over a possible US economic recovery.

The Nikkei index surged 339.87 points, or 4 per cent, to close morning trading at 8,833.64, and the broader Topix index of all first-section issues also rose 29.05 points, or 3.6 per cent, to 841.04.

Investors returned from a national holiday Thursday to buy a wide range of issues after the nation's industrial production data for March came out stronger than expected.

Washington - US President Barack Obama called on Chrysler LLC bondholders to make sacrifices in order to keep the nation's third-largest carmaker from filing for bankruptcy.

Obama, speaking at a town hall meeting in Arnold, Missouri, credited the carworker unions for taking the necessary steps to help Chrysler avoid bankruptcy protection by accepting a new labour agreement.

"One of the key questions now is: Are the bondholders, the lenders, the money people, are they willing to make sacrifices as well?" Obama said. "We don't know yet."

Washington  - The US economy appears to be contracting at a slower rate than in previous weeks in a sign that it is beginning to stabilize, the US Federal Reserve said Wednesday.

But the Federal Reserve warned that economic activity is likely to remain "weak for a time" and decided to keep the interest rate unchanged at 0-0.25 per cent from its last meeting in March.

The Federal Reserve meeting came hours after the US Commerce Department issued its quarterly report showing the economy continued to shrink during the first three months of the year.

Wiesbaden, Germany - Annual inflation in Germany climbed to 0.7 per cent April from 0.5 per cent for the year ending in March, according to preliminary figures released on Tuesday. Increased spending on fuel and package tours during the Easter holidays, accounted for the rise, the Federal Statistics Office said, citing data from six of Germany's federal states.

The March inflation rate was the lowest in nearly a decade.

Technical analyst Hunny Tarika of Fairwealth Securities said that Nifty witnessed good consolidation between 3300-3400 before moving upward to mark its closure above the 200 DMA of 3400.

Tarika said that stock traders are advised to be careful as there were low upside volumes on Thursday & Friday trading sessions.

He added that Nifty is shaping a pessimistic divergence in an overbought region. Those holding long positions should keep tracking their stop losses and any new position should be taken only with strict stop loss.

Washington  - Europe must do better in cleaning up its banking sector, should the continent have any hopes of recovering from a devastating recession, the International Monetary Fund said Friday.

The World Bank meanwhile said some 35 million people in Eastern Europe and Central Asia could be thrown back into poverty by the crisis, and called on on Western Europe to keep trade links alive with its struggling eastern economies.