CHINA

RBC Capital Markets initiated its rating on shares of Zuoan Fashion Ltd (NYSE: ZA) at outperform, speculative risk and a price target of $9.

Ruling out laymen speculation on a connection between the earthquakes that have stuck nations across the world including the powerful Christchurch and Japan ones, a new study has found that large quakes do not cause temblors in far away lands.

Chinese police have arrested prominent writer Ran Yunfei for challenging the ruling Communist Party, people close to the blogger said on Monday, the latest in a string of arrests in a deepening crackdown on dissent.

U.S. stock index futures were little changed on Monday as foreign headwinds remained in view following three days of U.S. equities gains, suggesting the recent period of volatility wasn't over.

U.S. stocks gained for the third consecutive day on Friday as investors shook off global fears and focused instead on upbeat earnings.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc will re-open 12 of its Seiyu stores in Japan which were affected by the earthquake, and is hoping to open the remaining 12 impacted stores as soon as possible, a spokesman for the U.S.-based retailer said.

The symbolic action of turning lights out for an hour in an expression of concern for the environment is in the process of being officially observed in thousands of communities across 134 countries and territories on Australia, Asia, Africa and Europe.

The International Monetary Fund warned Latin America on Saturday that economies across the region are overheating, and Canada urged policymakers not to underestimate the risks from rising inflation.

Canada says the current commodities boom could last decades and warned developing countries against being too timid with interest rate hikes, while the International Monetary Fund said that much of the Latin American economy is overheating.

China said on Friday it complied with most measures at issue in an international trade ruling made against its restrictions on copyright-intensive goods such as films, books and music.

China said on Friday it complied with most measures at issue in an international trade ruling made against its restrictions on copyright-intensive goods such as books and music.

Financial regulators have clarified that banks can provide services to foreign diplomatic missions and still comply with anti-money laundering laws after several major banks moved to close embassy accounts.

A Chinese activist who published pro-democracy articles online has been handed a 10-year jail term, reports said, as edgy leadership went about killing dissent in the wake of the 'Jasmine Revolution.'

A deadly 6.8-magnitude earthquake hit the mountainous area along Myanmar's borders with Thailand and Laos on Thursday, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. The tremors were felt in Bangkok, Hanoi, and some areas of China.

The fragmentation of the Chinese manufacturing industry has key implications for US business selling to China.

[Investors] don't believe in the gold story anymore, declared Kevin Norrish of Barclays Capital on Wednesday, announcing the bank's latest commodity investment survey of institutional players. Not one single respondent chose Gold Bullion as the likely best performer in 2011, Norrish said.

The top pre-market NASDAQ Stock Market gainers are: Biostar Pharmaceuticals, Wet Seal, Zalicus, Oracle, and JetBlue Airways. The top pre-market NASDAQ Stock Market losers are: China Finance Online, Research In Motion, Acacia Research, Universal Display, XOMA, and Netflix.

At its annual meeting, Starbucks Corp. (NYSE: SBUX) said it would offer its own value oriented single-serve machine with Courtesy Products.

China's customs authorities detained a Glencore trader as part of an investigation into the potential evasion of millions of dollars in taxes on fuel imports, sources with direct knowledge of the situation said on Friday.

The triple disaster in Japan and the ongoing turmoil in the Middle East and North Africa likely would have only a limited impact on the global economy - provided the twin shocks of higher oil prices and the supply chain disruptions from Japan do not get much worse, market research firm IHS said.

The visa-free tourism zone will have tourist movement from China and Vietnam without any requirement for travel permits. Tourists will also be able to cross the border on their vehicles.