Rejection of US bailout proposal hits world stock markets

PETALING JAYA: For those who predicted that the era of American dominance in the economic and political spheres was waning with the rise of China and India, the stream of bad news from Wall Street and its negative impact on major markets must surely come as a reality check.

It has put to rest ideas about decoupling €“ that emerging markets won’t be affected by a downturn in the United States. The ideas were bandied about by analysts and economists until the first half of the year when it became obvious a combination of US financial woes and high oil prices had begun to negatively impact investors’ confidence.