CHINA

Stocks headed for their biggest drop in more than a month on Thursday as an unsettling outlook from the Federal Reserve and weak data from China stoked global recession fears.

China's defense ministry warned that the deal with Taiwan has caused serious damage to Sino-US military relations.

Gold prices plunged Thursday when investors stampeded out of precious metals, as well as stocks, into the perceived safety of the U.S. dollar.

U.S. stocks are suffering a massive sell-off, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average plummeting more than 400 points, in the wake of a grim outlook from the Federal Reserve. Treasuries are rallying, the yield on the 10-Year note is at 1.76 percent, an all-time low.

Stocks tumbled on Thursday, extending losses for a fourth straight session, as the Federal Reserve's weak outlook for the U.S. economy and disappointing data from China heightened fears about a global recession.

A global banking crisis will erupt unless Europe properly deals with Greece's debt problems, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty said on Wednesday, notably hardening his criticism of European authorities.

Stocks skidded 3 percent on Thursday, extending losses for a fourth day as a gloomy outlook from the Federal Reserve and weak data from China heightened fears of a global recession.

The U.S. stock market rallied from last July until the end of April this year. It stalled from May to mid-July, after which it began to plunge.

Americans filed fewer new claims for jobless benefits last week but the decline was not enough to dispel worries the economy was dangerously close to falling into a new recession.

A grim outlook for the U.S. economy from the Federal Reserve and signs of a slowing in China and Germany sent world stocks tumbling on Thursday and drove investors into safer currencies and government bonds.

Gold fell by more than 3 percent on Thursday, set for its largest monthly decline since January, after the Federal Reserve's move to boost U.S. growth lifted the dollar, which battered the commodities complex.

Zambia's opposition leader Michael Sata held on to his lead over incumbent Rupiah Banda, the election commission said, as counting moved beyond a halfway point on Thursday in the race to become the next president of Africa's biggest copper producer.

After 85 of 150 voting districts have been tallied, Sata leads the race with 43 percent of the vote, compared to President Banda's 36 percent. However, Banda still leads in the most recent opinion polls.

Giant Interactive Group Inc said it will invest $50 million in China's e-commerce company Alibaba Group through an investment in Yunfeng e-Commerce Funds.

Oil prices fell by more than $4 a barrel on Thursday, with U.S. futures touching $81.86 barrel as a combination of signals heightened worries about global economic growth and a rallying U.S. dollar added to downward momentum.

China banned an annual dog-eating festival after a large public outcry over the way the animals were killed. The event in Qianxi Township outside Jinhua City in Zhejiang Province has been going on for 600 years, but both local and international outrage has stopped the event.

China-focused Silvercorp Metals Inc said on Thursday that it has so far bought back some 4.5 million common shares worth about $35 million, as the company fights back against allegations of fraud.

China's manufacturing sector contracted for a third consecutive month in September while a measure of inflation picked up, suggesting the world's No.2 economy may not be able to provide much of a counterweight to flagging U.S. and European growth.

China will have to wait for another two decades, if not longer, before hosting another Olympic Games to give other nations a fair chance, International Olympic Committee (IOC) president Jacques Rogge told the official Xinhua news agency on Thursday.

U.S. stocks have opened sharply lower in Thursday morning trading following an overnight plunge in global markets. Equities have tumbled largely in response to the Federal Reserve’s grim warning about the state of the U.S. economy and the establishment bond swap program.

Wall Street was set for a sharply lower open and its third straight down day on Thursday as a grim outlook from the Federal Reserve and downbeat data in Europe and China heightened fears about a global recession.