A look at economic developments around the globe (AP)

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

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BRUSSELS ? Talks between Greece and its private creditors on cutting the country's massive debt load have made some progress, but disagreements remain on key parts of the deal, a person close to the negotiations said.

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LONDON ? Stock markets bounced back after upbeat U.S. jobs figures helped shore up sentiment, a day after investors were rattled by the European Central Bank's huge loans to bolster the continent's banks.

The FTSE 100 index of leading British shares closed up 1.3 percent while Germany's DAX rose 1.1 percent. The CAC-40 in France ended 1.4 percent higher.

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TOKYO ? In Asia, Tokyo's main index declined 0.8 percent and China's benchmark lost 0.2 percent. South Korea's Kospi was down 0.1 percent.

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FRANKFURT, Germany ? The European Central Bank warned that a draft law before Hungary's parliament would undermine the independence of its central bank.

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TOKYO ? Japan's government lowered its economic growth forecasts as the country struggles with the yen's export-sapping strength and the fallout from Europe's debt crisis.

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LONDON ? Britain's economy grew by a slightly better than anticipated 0.6 percent in the third quarter, after unexpectedly stalling in the previous three month period, official figures showed.

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MADRID ? Spain's new Economy Minister Luis de Guindos said he was confident the country would emerge from its severe economic crisis, but failed to outline any new measures to help the ailing economy.

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WARSAW, Poland ? State figures show that Poland's jobless rate rose to 12.1 percent at the end of November from 11.8 percent the previous month.

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ROME ? Italian Premier Mario Monti has easily won a vote of confidence in the Senate, signaling parliamentary approval of the government's $39 billion package of tax hikes and pension changes.

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BRASILIA, Brazil ? Brazil's government statistics agency says the unemployment rate in Latin America's biggest economy was 5.2 percent in November ? the lowest level since the government started keeping records in 2002.

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CAIRO, Egypt ? Egypt's benchmark stock index dropped to its lowest level in over a year as a deepening political crisis in the Arab world's most populous nation clouded its political future and prompted Moody's Investors Service to push the government's bond rating deeper into junk status.

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RIGA, Latvia ? Latvia's three-year $10 billion bailout program that helped the Baltic country avert bankruptcy has come to an end.

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Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/economy/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111222/ap_on_bi_ge/us_economy_countries_glance

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