Most Asian markets made strong gains Wednesday, while share prices surged higher in European trading. The sharply rising stock values follow a dramatic late rally in U.S. markets on Wednesday.

President Bush says he is optimistic about reaching agreement with opposition legislators on an economic stimulus package. VOA White House Correspondent Scott Stearns reports, the U.S. central bank has cut the key interest rate in an effort to boost the troubled U.S. economy and stop a global sell-off of stocks.

The European Union's top economic official has blamed the current turmoil in global stock markets on major imbalances in the U.S. economy.

President Bush and members of Congress have been discussing how to stimulate the U.S. economy, which has seen growth hurt by tightening credit in the wake of the sub-prime mortgage crisis.

Natural gas distributed throughout the Marcellus black shale in northern Appalachia could conservatively boost proven U.S. reserves by trillions of cubic feet if gas production companies employ horizontal drilling techniques, according to a Penn State and State University of New York, Fredonia, team.

According to the data released by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics the unemployment rate rose 5 percent in USA in December 2007 and average hourly earnings rose by 7 cents.

US government says that the labor markets in USA are little stronger than expected. This factor may influence the Federal Reserve's decision next week on whether to cut interest rates.

The University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index is out today. It showed a little drop to 74.5 in early December.

US Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke says he sees a high degree of uncertainty in the US economic outlook, but is worried that strains in financial markets may lead to broader problems.

Senior Finance officials from the world's 20 major economies say they share responsibility for stabilizing rising commodity prices and are calling on countries with large foreign currency reserves to adopt more flexible exchange rates. The remarks came at the end of a two-day meeting in South Africa.

A visiting member of the US Federal Reserve believes there is very little likelihood of a recession in America. The president of the Dallas Federal Reserve, Richard Fisher, last night told the annual conference of the Australian Business Economists that it is more likely the US economy will continue expanding at a sustainable pace.

New figures show the U.S. economy grew at a fairly brisk pace during the third quarter of 2007. VOA White House Correspondent Paula Wolfson reports Bush administration officials give much of the credit to rising American exports.