A look at economic developments and activity in major stock markets around the world Thursday: ___ ATHENS, Greece _ Greece says it has raised badly needed cash with a new bond issue, passing a key test of its ability to avoid a disastrous debt default and dig out of a financial crisis that has shaken the European Union. ___ TOKYO _ Asian shares were also lower. Japan’s Nikkei 225 stock average fell 1.1 percent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng dropped 1.4 percent, South Korea’s index was down 0.3 percent and Shanghai’s market dove 2.4 percent as investors took profits ahead of Friday’s opening of the national legislature. Uncertainty surrounding new policies expected to be announced during the National People’s Congress fostered caution. ___ BEIJING _ China announced its smallest increase in defense spending in more than two decades, a likely result of both financial constraints and growing concern over perceptions of Beijing as a regional military threat. The planned 7.5 percent boost in defense spending in 2010 follows at least 20 years of double-digit increases in the budget for the People’s Liberation Army. ___ BERLIN _ Germany’s market regulator is imposing new rules that will oblige investors to report short-selling positions in major financial-sector stocks. ___ FRANKFURT _ An industry group says German machinery orders were down 3 percent on the year in January but foreign demand is improving. ___ PARIS _ France’s unemployment rate jumped to 10 percent in the fourth quarter, the highest level in a decade. ___ LONDON _ The Bank of England took a “wait and see” stance on the country’s hesitant economic recovery, holding interest rates at a record low of 0.5 percent and keeping its asset-purchase program to boost the money supply on ice. ___ MARIGNANE, France _ French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde says that a Franco-German aid plan for Greece is not on the agenda at the moment. ___ LISBON, Portugal _ Portugal’s government refused to back down from its austerity plan despite a national strike by civil servants. The strike over a planned pay freeze was supposed to be the biggest in four years but turnout was reported to be limited around the country. No demonstrations were planned. ___ KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia _ Malaysia’s central bank raised its key lending rate by a quarter percentage point to 2.25 percent. It is the first central bank in the region to hike rates since the onset of the financial crisis. ___ ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates _ A leading credit rating agency cut its ratings Thursday on seven state-linked companies in Abu Dhabi, rekindling concerns about Persian Gulf states’ debt following Dubai’s financial crisis. ___ JAKARTA, Indonesia _ Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on Thursday defended two senior ministers deeply involved in a $715 million government bank bailout that Parliament decided warrants criminal investigation.