A look at economic developments around the globe

A look at economic developments and stock market activity around the world Wednesday:

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SHANGHAI _ Resilient demand from Chinese shoppers helped push retail sales up 14.8 percent in April, but a paltry rise in industrial output sapped hopes for a fast recovery. The mixed signals were typical of the data for April, when exports plunged while investment soared _ casting doubt on claims the economy is poised for a return to faster growth in the second half of the year, as many economists forecast.

Meanwhile, General Motors Corp. plans to begin exports of vehicles made in China to the United States within two years, ramping up sales to more than 50,000 by 2014, reports said

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LONDON _ The Bank of England warned that Britain's economic recovery is likely to be "slow and protracted," tempering positive sentiment from a flurry of economic data that suggested the recession had hit bottom. Governor Mervyn King stressed there was a high level of uncertainty around the bank's latest forecast that the economy will shrink by 4.5 percent this year before returning to growth in 2010 _ already a later start than the bank predicted in its last quarterly report. King said that while there have been signs that the "pace of decline has moderated," any recovery would likely be slow and highly uncertain.

The FTSE 100 index of leading British shares closed down 94.17 points, or 2.1 percent, at 4,331.37.

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TOKYO _ Toyota Motor Corp. said it will cut vehicle production 28 percent this year to its lowest level in seven years. The world's largest automaker, struggling as sales fall across the globe, says it aims to produce 6.68 million vehicles in 2009, down from 9.24 million in 2008.

Japan's Nikkei 225 stock average rose 41.88 points, or 0.5 percent, to 9,340.49, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng dipped 94.02, or 0.6 percent, to 17,059.62. Earlier in Asia, South Korea's Kospi traded up 0.8 percent, while Shanghai's benchmark gained 1.8 percent to 2,663.77. Taiwan shares gained 0.8 percent. Australian and Indian indexes fell.

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BERLIN _ Daimler AG announced a restructuring plan for its Mitsubishi Fuso Truck and Bus Corp. that is expected to result in some 2,300 job cuts by the end of next year. Kawasaki, Japan-based Mitsubishi Fuso will close a bus production plant at Oye, near Nagoya, by mid-2010 and shut a truck plant near the Thai capital, Bangkok, by the end of this year.

Meanwhile, car parts maker Schaeffler Group KG said it could cut up to 4,500 jobs in Germany in an effort to save 250 million euros ($340 million) in annual costs as the global economic crisis has cut deeply into auto sales.

In earnings, troubled public-sector bank BayernLB reported a pretax profit for the first quarter, but said risk provisions and restructuring costs could still push it to a full-year loss. Meanwhile, insurance company Allianz SE said that net profit fell 98 percent in the first quarter

Steelmaker and industrial company ThyssenKrupp AG booked a net loss in the second quarter, due to a dramatic drop in demand amid the recession, and predicted an operating loss for the full year while saying it would slow work on a new Alabama plant.

Germany's DAX fell 126.50 points, or 2.6 percent, at 4,727.61.

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BRUSSELS _ The European Union fined Intel Corp. a record 1.06 billion euros ($1.44 billion), saying the world's biggest computer chip maker used illegal sales tactics to shut out smaller rival AMD. The fine exceeded a 899 million euros ($1.22 billion) monopoly abuse penalty for Microsoft Corp. last year. Intel called the decision "wrong" and said it would appeal.

In other news, the 16 countries that use the euro currency saw industrial output shrink by 2 percent in March from the previous month, pushing the annual rate of decline to a new record, the EU's statistics office said. The drop was far bigger than expected.

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PARIS _ Bailed-out Franco-Belgian lender Dexia SA returned to profitability in the first quarter as earnings from its core retail banking and government lending operations offset asset management losses.

The CAC-40 in France was lower by 78.20 points, or 2.4 percent, at 3,152.90.

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AMSTERDAM _ ING Groep NV, the Dutch bank and insurer, reported a 793 million euros ($1.08 billion) net loss for the first quarter, blaming falling asset prices, the weak performance of insurance contracts, and charges for restructuring its business.

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DUBLIN _ Angry investors in Allied Irish Banks voted to approve a 3.5 billion euros ($4.77 billion) taxpayer bailout at an emergency meeting _ during which one livid shareholder pelted the chairman with eggs.

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MILAN _ Italy's largest bank, Unicredit, said first-quarter profit dropped 58 percent due to loss of tax breaks and the impact of loan loss provisions. Unicredit has said it would seek as much as 4 billion euros ($5.4 billion) in state aid to stave off the effects of the global economic downturn. The bank has insisted it has enough liquidity to survive the downturn, but was considering the aid to remain competitive with other banks that have been shored up.

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KUWAIT CITY _ The official Kuwait News Agency says the oil-rich country's central bank has cut discount rate by half a percentage point to 3 percent. Central Bank head Sheik Salem Abdul-Aziz Al Sabah told KUNA the reduction was needed to "enhance growth" in non-oil sectors of the economy.

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TALLINN, Estonia _ Estonia's economy tumbled 15.6 percent in the first quarter compared with a year earlier on the back of significantly lower industrial production, as well as a steep fall in construction and domestic demand, the state's statistics agency said.

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SEOUL, South Korea _ South Korea's unemployment rate fell to 3.8 percent in April, government data showed, adding to signs the country's battered economy is improving. The pace of decline in South Korea's exports has been slowing and the country recorded a record trade surplus for the second straight month in April.

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MOSCOW _ Russia's Central Bank cut key interest rates by half a percentage point to 12 percent to help the ailing economy and borrowers amid signs that inflation is slowing. The cut in the refinancing rate is the second in a month.