A look at economic developments and activity in major stock markets around the world Wednesday:

___

LONDON — European stock markets rose modestly after solid earnings from U.S. bank Morgan Stanley. The euro, meanwhile, broke above $1.50 for the first time in over a year as the dollar extended its retreat. In Europe, the FTSE 100 of leading British shares rose 0.3 percent to close at 5,257.85 while France's CAC-40 rose 0.1 percent to 3,873.22. Germany's DAX rose 0.4 percent to 5,833.49. All three indexes had been over 1 percent lower in anticipation of another retreat on Wall Street.

___

LONDON — Bank of England policy makers were unanimous in their recent decision against making changes to interest rates or their money supply program, citing improvements in markets and economic data, the minutes to the meeting showed. The central bank left rates at a historic low of 0.5 percent and the asset purchase program was left going at its current size at the Oct. 7-8 meeting. But the minutes og the meeting revealed differences of views among the nine members of the monetary policy committee on the inflation outlook.

___

MOSCOW — A senior Russian government official warned that the rapid strengthening of the ruble could undermine the country's economic recovery, according to news reports. The Russian currency has gained nearly 10 percent against the dollar since early September on higher crude prices and a broader weakening of the U.S. dollar. The dollar traded at 29.2 rubles on the Micex exchange. Oil prices — which are crucial to Russia's energy exporting economy — reached $77 per barrel. But while higher crude prices help the country's energy exports, they cause the ruble's value to rise — hurting other kinds of exports.

___

BEIJING — China's economy strengthened in the first nine months of the year, the Cabinet said, while signaling that the final quarter will see a shift to dealing with overcapacity and other problems of high growth. The meeting of the State Council's executive members, chaired by Premier Wen Jiabao, came a day ahead of the release of official third quarter economic data on Thursday. Chinese shares fell ahead of the reports. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index lost 0.5 percent to 3,070.59. The Shenzhen Composite Index for China's second exchange shed 0.4 percent to 1,069.56.

___

MUMBAI, India — India's economy will grow 6.5 percent this fiscal year, with strong industrial output making up for declines in agriculture because of poor rains, the Prime Minister's office said. The Prime Minister's Economic Advisory Council in its annual report said capital inflows have revived, and projects they will reach $57.3 billion this fiscal year from $9.1 billion last year. It says industrial output will grow 8.2 percent, up from 3.9 percent last year. The report's outlook for India's growth is slightly more optimistic than the central bank's July prediction of 6 percent growth, with an upward bias, for the fiscal year ending March 2010. Last fiscal year, India's growth slipped to 6.7 percent, after averaging 8.8 percent over the prior five years.

___

TOKYO — Japanese stocks were little changed ahead of earnings releases by top Japanese companies. The benchmark Nikkei 225 index fell 0.03 percent to 10,333.39. The broader Topix index rose 0.03 percent to 913.70. Honda Motor Co. and Sony Corp. will announce their earnings next week, with Nissan Motor Co. and Toyota Motor Corp., the word's biggest auto maker, set to release their quarterly earnings in early November.

Copyright 2009 The Associated Press.