CHINA

President Barack Obama will pursue a broad agenda when he makes a five-day trip to three Latin American nations in March, soon after Treasury Sec. Timothy Geithner traveled to the largest economy in the region, Brazil, to lay the groundwork for the President's trip.

Group of 20 negotiators have failed to reach agreement on a list of indicators by which to measure imbalances in the global economy and will leave it up to their finance ministers to try and seal a deal on Saturday, a G20 source said.

With growing inflation in China, policymakers are facing tough decisions. This column argues that if the government is to curb inflation without allowing for the deflation of the tradables, it should do so through sector focused policies.

Silver Prices today jumped to fresh 31-year highs at $32.84 per ounce, outpacing the rise in gold prices more than 3 times over since the two metals turned sharply higher three weeks ago.

US stocks rose modestly higher on Friday, with S&P 500 Index up 2.52 points, or 0.19 percent, to trade at 1,342.98 at 12:00 p.m. EST. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is up 42.16 points, or 0.34 percent, to trade at 12,360.30. The Nasdaq Composite Index rose 0.23 percent to trade at 2,837.98.

A draft statement by Group of 20 finance ministers lists four indicators including the current account for measuring global imbalances, Russia's deputy finance minister said on Friday.

China Overseas Land and Investment Ltd, the country's largest developer bymarket value, said it aims to record 20 percent growth in netprofit this year, betting that it can ride through governmentmeasures to cool the market.

Automakers in China shipped 16.2 percent more cars to dealers in January as they moved aggressively to replenish inventories that were nearly depleted after explosive sales in December.

China rejected plans to use real exchange rates and currency reserves to measures global economic imbalances, casting doubt on the ability of Group of 20 major economic powers to reach agreement at a meeting on Friday.

The Chinese manufacturer says its LePad tablet will reach foreign shores in June.

It's too early to be sure, but signs that China's current account surplus will keep shrinking as a share of national output could draw some of the venom from the debate on global economic imbalances preoccupying the G20.

Swedish carmaker Volvo, owned by Zhejiang Geely Holding Group, has finalised its decision to make Volvo cars in southwestern China, two people with knowledge of the matter said on Friday.

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is helping partners in China improve child vaccines, roll out faster TB detection kits and make higher-yielding rice which it hopes can be used later in other parts of the world.

US stocks were mixed on Friday, with S&P 500 Index edging down 0.27 points, or 0.02 percent, to trade at 1,340.21 at 09:50 a.m. EST. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is up 14.04 points, or 0.11 percent, to trade at 12,332.18. The Nasdaq Composite Index rose 0.07 percent to trade at 2,833.52.

China's top nickel producer and third-biggest copper producer Jinchuan Group Ltd is seeking a local listing for its technology unit this year, after it bought a Hong Kong-listed firm for its overseas resource assets, a top executive said on Friday.

HSBC Holdings Plc will launch a flash purchasing managers' index for the Chinese manufacturing sector on Feb. 21, providing one of the earliest available performance indicators for the world's second-largest economy.

China's central bank governor Zhou Xiaochuan said on Thursday that Beijing will decide the pace of the appreciation of the yuan on its own and would not take into account pressure from other countries.

Reform of the international monetary system is needed to prevent foreign assets flooding to one particular currency, the head of the People's Bank of China said on Friday.

Gold hit five-week highs in Europe on Friday and silver its strongest since 1980 as growing unrest in the Middle East lifted interest in precious metals, though another reserve requirement hike from China curbed gains.

China on Friday raised banks' required reserves by 50 basis points, showing no let-up in a campaign to stamp out stubbornly high inflation.

Brokerage Jefferies & Co. said winners at MWC are Blackberry maker Research In Motion (RIM), Samsung, Apple Inc., and Google Inc.'s Android.