Manila - The Asian Development Bank (ADB) said Wednesday it extended a 250-million-dollar loan to help strengthen the Philippine government's fiscal management and reform programmes.

The Manila-based ADB said the loan will help the Philippine government in dealing with the adverse impact of the recent developments in the global economy.

It will also boost the government's efforts to implement measures to strengthen the investment climate with focus on reducing red tape, and support for infrastructure policy and rural development.

Hong Kong - Hong Kong leader Donald Tsang said Wednesday the territory was facing a "financial tsunami" and said the city would need tenacity and perseverance to ride it out.

Speaking at a Chinese National Day ceremony, he said people in the city of 6.9 million needed to summon up the spirit China displayed after the Sichuan earthquake in May to face the crisis ahead.

"We were uplifted by the great strength and unity displayed by the whole nation in its aftermath," he told a gathering of 2,000 people at the reception.

Tokyo - Optimism in Japan's industry is at its lowest point in five years, a quarterly survey by the country's central bank said Wednesday.

For the first time since 2003, the Bank of Japan's Tankan index, a a business sentiment survey of 10,000 companies, turned negative in the July-September quarter.

The index slipped from plus 5 in the previous quarter to minus 3, indicating that pessimists have the upper hand as the global downturn threatens Japan's export markets and the country's economy hovers on the brink of recession.

New York  - After Monday's record-breaking plunge, US stocks rallied at opening on Tuesday, recovering up to a a third of losses on revived hopes for a rescue plan for the financial system, with bargain-hunting investors helping the rise.

The Standard & Poor's 500 Index recovered almost a third of Monday's 8.79 per cent drop, Bloomberg financial news service reported. The drop was the largest in two decades.

Washington  - Consumer confidence continued to improve in September before the recent turmoil in credit markets and Wall Street, data released Tuesday showed.

The New York-based Conference Board said its index of consumer confidence rose to 59.8 up from 58.5 in August as the short-term outlook improved.

The survey of 5,000 households ended September 23 and it remained unclear what impact further failures of financial institutions, large swings in the stock market and the collapse of a bailout deal would have on the index.

Bangkok - Thai exports grew 15.5 per cent in August, the slowest performance this year, while imports were up 26.9 per cent, leaving the kingdom with a 
675-million-dollar trade deficit, the Bank of Thailand said Tuesday.

The value of Thailand's exports totaled 15.79 billion dollars, up 15.5 per cent from August 2007, the central bank said. The rise was lower than July's 44-per-cent jump.

The export slowdown was led by declines in rice shipments and prices while rubber exports also dropped in volume, the bank said.