China slams the brakes on

[Mulboyne]

Bloomberg: China Raises Interest Rates for First Time in 9 Years

Oct. 28 (Bloomberg) -- China's central bank raised its benchmark interest rates for the first time in nine years, stepping up efforts to curb inflation and cool growth in the world's fastest-growing major economy...Metals prices and global mining stocks such as BHP Billiton slumped on concern rates may be increased further in a nation that uses about a quarter of the world's steel and is the second- biggest oil consumer. China's economy is twice the size and its imports three times as large as when the central bank last raised interest rates in 1995.
...The last time the benchmark lending rate was raised growth halved to 7.1 percent in 1999 from 12.8 percent in 1994. Inflation was riding at an annual pace of more than 20 percent. The impact of such a sharp slowdown on global growth would be more significant now. China consumed 55 percent of the world's cement production and 36 percent of its steel in 2003, driving a 40 percent gain in imports to $413 billion, according to the State Statistics Bureau. China's imports were $132.1 billion in 1995.

[Buraku]

bad news as this makes the Japan stocks very shakey, however it's a smart move by the Chinese