Asian shares went up on October 16 after finance leaders appealed to International Monetary Fund (IMF) during the weekend to continue its policies of minimal interest rates. This move will help various countries to continue their economic recoveries. The result was almost instantaneous: the Nikkei 225 index of Japan went north by 0.6 percent, touching 21,288.12. The Hang Seng index went up one percent to touch 28,765.25. Kospi of South Korea went up to 2,477.63, a gain of 0.2 percent. The Standard & Poor ASX/200 went up 0.6 percent to touch 5,848.40. There was a gain of 0.2 percent by Shanghai Composite index. It went to 3,396.92. Southeast Asia shares went up as well.

Stocks in the United States finished higher on October 13 to end a subdued week. The market was pushed up majorly by technology companies. Companies engaged in retail, entertainment and travel clocked gains after a positive report on American retail spending published by US Department of Commerce. About 0.1 percent was added by the S&P 500 to touch 2,553.17. A rise of 0.1 percent was clocked by Dow Jones as well, to 22,871.72. The Nasdaq composite went up by 0.2 percent to end at a peak of 6,605.80. In energy, US crude oil, a benchmark in its own right, rose by 42 cents to touch $51.87 for every barrel on New York Mercantile Exchange.

Finance ministers agreed that the recovery from the financial crisis of 2008 remained incomplete. They recommended that central banks must continue with the low-interest rates. These rates make borrowing an attractive proposition. This will help the world economy to recover. The Washington meeting also concentrated attention on the failure of these policies to shore up inflation outside the financial markets. The IMF sent a communique to 189 nations warning about a distinct lack of complacency. It said that the nations are set to confront a number of new challenges which threaten to derail the global growth. These include violent weather patterns connected to climate change and cyber-security attacks.

Analysts concur with this view. They say that in the specter of protectionism. World economies have enjoyed synchronized upswings in 2017. Trade activity has also increased. This does not mean, however, that all is good. A number of analysts have said that it is evident the continuing low inflation is a puzzle remaining to be cracked.