ECONOMY & MARKETS

Crude oil prices have broken out of their trading range and is headed towards $114, the next resistant point, said Richard Perry, chief market strategist at Central Markets.

The Chinese economy grew around 10.1 percent last year, the deputy head of China's top economic planning agency told Reuters on Saturday, which amounts to the fastest pace of annual growth in three years.

Tata Steel, the world's seventh largest steel maker, could raise as much as 34.77 billion rupees ($769.5 million) in its follow-on public share sale.

BP is preparing to announce a major deal with Rosneft, the state-owned Russian energy giant, according to a report from the BBC.

Stocks rose modestly, boosted by strong corporate earnings from J.P. Morgan (NYSE: JPM) and Intel Corp. (Nasdaq: INTC), allowing the S&P 500 index to score its seventh consecutive week of gains.

Echoing some of the recent warnings from famed analyst Meredith Whitney, the chief executive of J.P. Morgan (NYSE: JPM) Jamie Dimon said he thinks more municipalities will face bankruptcies this year.

The South African rand fell to its lowest in five weeks on Friday, as the central bank mopped up dollar supply as a measure to curb currency strength, while waning global risk appetite also weighed.

Bullion rebounded on Friday as the euro lost strength despite better-than-forecast debt auctions by Spain and Italy, while purchases from jewellers and investors, which sent premiums for gold bars to two-year highs, offered additional support.

South Africa's rand was steady against the dollar in early Friday trade, with healthy flows to the stock market balancing out central bank dollar-buying, dealers said.

The Kenyan shilling firmed against the dollar on Friday after the greenback lost ground against major hard currencies, increasing investors' appetite for riskier assets.

U.S. stock index futures pointed to a lower open on Friday after weak retail sales and a mixed reaction to JPMorgan Chase & Co's quarterly earnings.

The Ugandan shilling strengthened marginally on Friday, supported by central bank intervention after it hit a record low against the dollar, but traders said the currency's reprieve could be short-lived.

An improving global economy, solid corporate earnings and even easing fears about euro zone debt have been more than enough to rationalise the rising hunger for riskier assets now prevalent on financial markets.

Ethiopia's annual inflation rate jumped to 14.5 percent last month from 10.2 percent in November following an almost 17 percent devaluation of its currency last year.

Austerity has come to America through state and local governments.

High-profile banking analyst Richard Bove said the U.S. banking sector is entering into a “golden age.” The financial strategist at Rochdale Securities explains that banks have so flush cash on their balance sheets that corporate earnings will grow by 20 percent annually over the next few years.

U.S. stocks are down slightly in Friday morning trading after the release of U.S. retail sales data and news of further monetary tightening from China.

Inflation risks in the euro zone could well move to the upside and the 17-country region's economic outlook has clearly improved, European Central Bank Governing Council Axel Weber said on Friday.

U.S. inflation increased a marginal 0.5 percent in December on a seasonally adjusted basis, helping annual inflation rate to rise to a seven-month high, while core prices nudged up by 0.1 percent.

The top pre-market NASDAQ stock market gainers are: Cumberland Pharmaceuticals, Corinthian Colleges, ICAgen, KLA-Tencor, and Applied Materials. The top pre-market NASDAQ stock market losers are: Coinstar, Kandi Technologies, Hasbro, ARM Holdings, and Qiagen.

The Euro extended its rally on the currency markets, spiking to a 4-week high vs. the Dollar of $1.3450 before easing back. Thus, Gold priced in Euros dropped almost 5% from Monday's near-record high.

US futures are set to open lower on Friday after a disappointing jobless claims data, which could weigh on sentiment.

The top after-market NASDAQ stock market gainers are: Cumberland Pharmaceuticals, Sterling Bancshares, Acorda Therapeutics, RadNet, and Move. The top after-market NASDAQ stock market losers are: Coinstar, Seahawk Drilling, Telestone Technologies, Shuffle Master, and SORL Auto Parts.

Goldman Sachs raised Infosys Technologies to buy from neutral on Friday, saying it believes a drop in the share prices offers an attractive entry point.

Turnover at Indian commodity bourses rose 50 percent to 82.70 trillion rupees ($1.83 trillion) in the first three quaters to December on surging volumes on bullion and metal counters, data from the regulator showed.

The BSE Sensex fell 0.4 percent in early trade on Friday, with financials leading the decline ahead of December inflation data.

The embattled Congress-led coalition government failed to announce major policy decisions on Thursday to tackle soaring food prices after days of wrangling, taking only minor measures seen as unlikely to make a major impact.

Taiwan stocks opened up 0.11 percent on Friday, with semiconductors trading flat even though Intel Corp

Hong Kong stocks are set to ease on Friday morning as investors take profits after three days of strong gains, and shares of materials-related companies could decline due to falling commodity prices.