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

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BEIJING — Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao is trying to reassure the public about the government's ability to control inflation with new fears that rising prices will create instability.

Wen said Sunday on China National Radio that the government has already taken 16 measures to fight inflation and is fully able to control the general level of prices.

The remarks came a day after China raised interest rates for the second time in a little more than two months to curb inflation, which has risen to a 28-month high.

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BRUSSELS — Data from the European Central Bank shows it bought government bonds worth euro1.121 billion ($1.468 billion) in the week ended Dec. 24, as the ECB stepped up bond purchases in its fight against Europe's debt crisis.

The previous week the central banks only invested euro603 million in bonds from governments with shaky finances such as Ireland, Greece and Portugal, disappointing traders who had hoped the ECB would play a more active role as the region tries to keep the debt crisis from pushing more states into international bailouts.

Buying bonds supports their prices and keeps countries' borrowing costs in check.

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BERLIN — Deutsche Bank AG's Thomas Mayer, the chief economist at Germany's biggest bank, expects Portugal to seek a bailout from other European countries with the sovereign debt crisis eroding investor's faith in the market.

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RIO DE JANEIRO — New government statistics say Brazil has record employment levels — and there are shortages of workers in some sectors.

The report from the government's IBGE statistics bureau shows the lowest level of unemployment ever recorded, 5.7 percent. Employers in sectors ranging from construction to retail say they're not finding enough workers to meet needs.

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LONDON — World stock markets were mostly lower in light trading, as investor anxiety over interest rate hikes in China outweighed a rally earlier in the day. That could crimp spending in one of the world's hottest economies and expand beyond the nation's borders to international companies that rely on exports.

In European trade, France's CAC-40 fell 1 percent and Germany's DAX was down 1.2 percent. Britain's FTSE 100 was closed for a holiday.

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TOKYO — In Asia, The Shanghai Composite index fell 1.9 percent while the Shenzhen Composite Index for China's smaller, second market fell 2.4 percent. Trading volume in Shanghai was a fraction of the normal trading amount.

South Korea's Kospi fell 0.4 percent and benchmarks in Thailand and India also fell.

Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 stock average rose 0.7 percent while benchmarks in Singapore and Taiwan also rose. Australia, New Zealand and Hong Kong markets were closed Monday for the Christmas holiday.