Asian stock markets gained for the fourth straight day and Europe opened stronger as investors awaited the end of a US Federal Reserve meeting that could see the launch of a new 200-billion-dollar credit-support scheme.

The Japanese central bank was also poised to act against the economic crisis by increasing its purchase of government bonds, thereby pumping more cash in into the country's financial system.

As government anti-crisis initiatives start to take hold, there have been growing -- though still fragile -- signs that the global economy was regaining its health.

European Central Bank president Jean-Claude Trichet told a French 1 radio interviewer there was now "a fairly general consensus... that 2010 could be the year of moderate recovery for growth" as long as governments, companies and consumers regain confidence.

"I insist that what's important now is to regain confidence," Trichet said, adding that the year ahead would be "very difficult" and that the current economic situation was "very uncertain."

Trichet's comments came after US Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke said in an interview with CBS television on Sunday that "green shoots" of economic revival were already visible and that confidence was returning to the markets.

There were tentative hopeful signs in recession-hit Germany too, where a rise in investor confidence reported on Tuesday offered hope that the outlook for Europe's biggest economy and the world's largest exporter was improving.

And Italy on Wednesday reported that its industrial output had fallen by a much less than expected 0.2 percent from December to January, seen as a positive sign after a 3.9-percent drop from November to December.

But the World Bank cautioned that China's economy would likely slow to 6.5 percent growth this year, below an earlier estimate of 7.5 percent and "significantly lower than potential growth" as its exports tank.

The Bank nonetheless found that economic fundamentals in China were sound and that Chinese banks had escaped the financial crisis largely unharmed.

"China is a relative bright spot in an otherwise gloomy global economy," said the World Bank's country director for China, David Dollar.

A Chinese think-tank earlier forecast first-quarter growth at 6.5 percent, a far cry from its double-digit expansion over six years until 2008. China says it needs 8.0 percent growth this year to keep unemployment under control.

China has a critical role to play in a global economic recovery as its huge consumer market could prove to be a valuable outlet for export dependent economies in Asia, Europe and elsewhere.

In Tokyo the Japanese cental bank kept its super-low 0.1 percent interest rates unchanged for the third straight month but said it would pour more cash into the economy to fight off recession.

"Economic conditions have deteriorated significantly and are likely to continue deteriorating for the time being," the bank warned in a statement.

The Bank of Japan will therefore raise its outright purchases of Japanese government bonds to 21.6 trillion yen (219 billion dollars) a year, up from 16.8 trillion yen.

The announcement came a day after the BoJ said it would lend up to one trillion yen (10 billion dollars) to commercial banks to cover risky debt.

The US Federal Reserve, unable to call on its traditional interest rate tools, was likewise weighing new efforts to revive the ailing US economy.

The Fed's Open Market Committee at the end of a two-day meeting was expected to leave unchanged its base lending rates at zero to 0.25 percent.

But with its ability to further lower interest rates exhausted, the central bank has started buying up mortgage securities and corporate commercial paper to boost the availability of credit for businesses.

The Fed is now set to launch a new program to pump 200 billion dollars into consumer credit through the purchase of securities backed by auto, student and other types of loans.

International bodies too have been drafted into the anti-recession fight.

Romania is now seeking a loan from the International Monetary Fund and the European Union of up to 20 billion euros as a safety net, according to President Traian Basescu said here.

Basescu, who held talks late on Tuesday with a delegation from the International Monetary Fund, said that the assessment by IMF experts showed that the economic situation was "worse than expected."

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