RETAIL SALES

Cyber Monday was on course to set another record for retail sales on Monday, as the strong start to the holiday shopping season continued online.

Shares of the Seattle-based retailer rose 6.44 percent to $194.15.

Online retail sales in the United States on the post-Thanksgiving shopping day known as Black Friday jumped 26 percent this year, led by Amazon.com Inc, comScore said on Sunday.

More people are expected to shop on this year's Black Friday, according to a survey for the National Retail Federation conducted by BIGresearch.

South Africa's rand reversed its earlier losses against the dollar on Wednesday and government bond yields pulled back from the previous day's multi-week highs as local assets took a breather from a hammering brought on by global risk aversion.

Asian stock markets ended lower on Wednesday, as concerns about Europe’s debt crisis offset better-than-expected reports on U.S. economy Tuesday.

Stocks rose in a choppy market on Tuesday, led by gains in technology shares that offset worries the Eurozone's debt troubles will spread.

U.S. stock index futures fell on Tuesday, extending a drop in global equities, as doubts about the ability of Europe to tackle its debt crisis sent Italy's bond yields back into a perceived danger zone.

U.S. stock index futures fell on Tuesday, extending a drop in global equities, as doubts about the ability of Europe to tackle its debt crisis sent Italy's bond yields back into a perceived danger zone.

U.S. consumer sentiment perked up in November to its highest level in five months as Americans felt more upbeat about the economy's prospects, a survey released on Friday showed.

Despite the current global economic crisis -- which seems to have taken a relative stranglehold on Europe -- France has somehow managed to weather the storm. And, perhaps, thrive, if even just a bit.

China's exports in October rose at their weakest pace in eight months, underlining official concern about the sector that has dragged on economic growth this year while imports jumped much more than expected.

General Growth Properties, the large mall operator that exited bankruptcy protection last year, reported core funds from operation (FFO), which measures its ability to generate cash, of $224.2 million, or 23 cents per share, up slightly from FFO of $223.2 million in 2010.

China's annual inflation rate fell sharply in October to 5.5 percent in a further pullback from July's three-year peak, giving Beijing more room to fine tune policy to help an economy feeling the chill of a global slowdown.

China's annual inflation rate eased to 5.5 percent in October, a third straight month of decline from July's three-year peak and Premier Wen Jiabao said prices had fallen further since then.

Retail sales in the 17 countries sharing the euro fell more than expected in September despite some resilience in powerhouse Germany, the EU's statistics office said on Monday, reinforcing concern that the bloc's economy may be heading for a recession.

October retail sales missed Wall Street expectations, with companies reporting weak numbers as the holiday season approaches.

Asia's gold buyers trimmed purchases as prices rebounded, but demand is expected to stay firm as India approaches key festivals next week, underpinning sentiment in the precious metal.

If there's nothing to fear but fear itself, as President Franklin Roosevelt contended during the Great Depression, then the world economy in 2011 has reached an interesting juncture between sentiment and reality.

China's economic expansion slowed in the third quarter to its weakest pace in more than two years as euro-debt strains and a sluggish U.S. economy took a toll, but healthy domestic drivers suggest little room to relax monetary policy near term.

China's economic expansion slowed in the third quarter to its weakest pace in more than two years as euro-debt strains and a sluggish U.S. economy took a toll, but healthy domestic drivers suggest little room to relax monetary policy near term.