CRUDE OIL

The price of large, wholesale Gold Bars continued rising for US investors on Thursday, ending London trade at a 5-week high of $1383 per ounce as world stock markets held flat and the Dollar slipped on the currency market.

US stocks declined in early trade on Thursday after official data showed that weekly jobless claims unexpectedly rose last week while Consumer Price Index (CPI) climbed more than forecast in January.

More than half of Americans believe that the economy is still in recession and are less confident on the improvement in the nation’s economic conditions over the next few months, a new CBS News poll showed.

U.S. stocks opened lower on Tuesday after the government report showed that retail sales rose less than forecast in January.

Consumer prices in Britain rose in January, mainly led by an increase in value added tax (VAT) and rising crude oil prices.

Futures on major U.S. stock indices point to modestly higher opening on Tuesday ahead of a wave of economic data including retail sales.

India, struggling to balance between cutting its costly fuel subsidies and curbing inflation, may tweak fuel taxes in the Feb. 28 budget to cushion the blow of rising global crude prices on state-run oil retailers.

Once the world’s crude oil reserves finally run out, the best hope for a replacement is ethanol derived from Brazilian sugar-cane, according to Bob Dudley, the chief executive of BP (NYSE: BP).

Nigeria distributed 414.3 billion naira from federal accounts to its three tiers of government for January, up 0.85 percent on the previous month, the acting accountant general said on Monday.

Futures on major U.S. stock indices point to a mixed opening on Monday, after indices recorded a second straight week of gains on Friday.

Inflation eased slightly in January but was still higher than expected, reinforcing expectations the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will keep tightening policy because price pressures are still above its comfort zone.

India's annual industrial output in December rose at its slowest pace in 20 months on a higher base last year and stretched capacities at factories, but the Reserve Bank will likely continue tightening monetary policy to tame high headline inflation.

Margin compression is a nasty thing in business. According to government data, this is precisely what UK manufacturers are facing.

U.S. stocks opened lower on Friday as data showed the U.S trade deficit widened in December, and jitters over Egypt continued.

Factory gate inflation rose twice as fast as expected last month, and the cost of raw materials soared, heaping pressure on the Bank of England to raise interest rates sooner rather than later.

Soaring oil prices will help France's Total (TOTF.PA) produce bumper annual profits on Friday, when investors hope for details on how much Europe's third-largest oil group will invest to revive output.

World stock markets fell hard on Thursday, with Hong Kong shares losing 2% and London's FTSE100 dropping 0.9% by lunchtime. Indian stock markets have lost more than $20 million per minute so far in 2011, the Economic Times reports, with billionaire Anil Ambani blaming vicious and illegal rumors.

U.S. stocks declined in early trade on Thursday despite better-than-expected jobs data with tech stocks particularly remaining weak as disappointing earnings from Cisco Systems weighed on the sentiment

U.S. stocks declined in early trade on Thursday despite better-than-expected weekly jobless claims data as disappointing earnings from Cisco Systems weighed on the sentiment.

Ghana's inflation rate jumped to 9.08 percent in January, the first increase in 19 months and due partly to a 30 percent rise in petrol prices, but analysts still expect the central bank to keep interest rates on hold next week.

U.S. stocks declined in early trade on Wednesday as investors preferred to take profits after the Dow Jones Industrial Average reached its highest level since June 2008 on Tuesday.