Japan’s economy grew for the first time in five quarters as a revival in exports and consumer spending helped the country climb out of its worst postwar recession. Stocks fell on concern the recovery won’t last. GDP expanded at an annual 3.7% pace in the three months ended June 30, following an 11.7% decline in the previous quarter.  The median estimate of 22 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg News was for 3.9 % growth. Exports grew 6.3 % q?o?q, marking the highest growth since April?June 2002 when Japanese shipments expanded 6.4%.

FDI in China fell for a tenth straight month in July as companies stalled expansion plans amid the global financial crisis. Investment declined 35.7 % from a year earlier to $5.36 billion, the Commerce Ministry said at a briefing in Beijing today. That compared with a 6.76 % drop in June.

Asian stocks dropped for the first time in three days as disappointing Japanese economic growth and U.S. consumer confidence reports raised concern about the pace of the global recovery.

The US has seen the biggest bank failure of 2009 with Colonial Bank, which had assets worth USD 25 billion as on June 30, closing operations last week after hit by the financial turmoil. In just eight months this year, 77 banks have gone out of business against 25 bank failures last year.

China secured a 35% cut in iron ore prices from Australia’s Fortescue Metals Group Ltd., and will ask the world’s biggest producers Vale SA, BHP Billiton Ltd. and Rio Tinto Group for a similar reduction.

U.K. home sellers lowered asking prices in August by the most in eight months as banks kept up the squeeze on credit, Rightmove Plc said. The average cost of a home fell 2.2 % to 222,762 pounds ($367,808) after gaining 0.6 % in July, the owner of the U.K.’s biggest residential property Web site said today in a statement. Prices in London dropped 3.8 %.

Crude oil fell to the lowest in more than two weeks as reduced demand and rising stockpiles in the U.S. will ensure adequate supplies during the North Atlantic hurricane season. Oil traded below $70 a barrel for a second day after an unexpected decline in U.S. consumer confidence and reports showing gasoline demand in the nation at its lowest in more than 12 weeks. Tropical Storm Claudette, the first to make landfall in the U.S. this season, may strengthen as it approaches the Florida Panhandle, the National Hurricane Center said.