News Today - July 01

* China’s manufacturing expanded for a fourth month as a 4 trillion yuan ($585 billion) stimulus plan and record bank lending revive the world’s third-largest economy.

* The U.S. recession is likely to end later in 2009, ushering in a "frustratingly slow" recovery marked by continued high unemployment, a top Federal Reserve official said on Tuesday.

* Japan's large manufacturers become more optimistic for the first time since December 2006, the Bank of Japan's quarterly tankan survey shows, though the result misses expectations.

* Billionaire investor George Soros Tuesday predicted a "stop-go" economy for the United States, saying fears of inflation will drive up interest rates and choke off growth

* World Bank President Robert Zoellick said on Tuesday that financial markets are showing signs of stabilization, but warned that the Recession was far from over in developing countries.