MARKETS / FINANCE

Terumo Corp <4543.T> said it would buy U.S. medical device company CaridianBCT from a Swedish firm for about $2.6 billion, marking the largest acquisition by a Japanese medical equipment maker.

The Federal Reserve cannot rule out expanding its $600 billion stimulus as political upheaval in the Middle East and North Africa heighten U.S. economic uncertainty, a top Fed official said on Monday.

U.S. stocks were set to open slightly higher on Monday as investors weighed a batch of acquisition activity against another climb in oil prices on unrest in the Middle East and North Africa.

The U.S. government reiterated that it could tap its strategic oil reserves in order to safeguard economic growth as surging gasoline prices increase pressure for action.

Stock index futures rose on Monday, indicating Wall Street will recover from Friday's losses even as oil prices continued to spike on unrest in the Middle East and North Africa.

France's finance ministry was subject to a cyberattack in December targeting information related to its presidency of the Group of 20 nations, officials said on Monday.

The dramatic rise in China's interest in silver is evident from the fact that the country imported an unprecedented 14 percent of global silver in 2010, whereas it was net exporter of silver till recently.

Moody's slashed Greece's credit rating on Monday on fears the country's efforts to cut its debt will not be enough, heaping further pressure on EU leaders to ease repayment terms on its bailout loans or risk a default.

Moody's cut Greece's credit rating by three notches and kept it on review for further downgrades on Monday, citing significant risks to its fiscal restructuring program and the chance of a voluntary debt restructuring.

Japanese medical equipment firm Terumo Corp <4543.T> plans to buy U.S. medical device company CaridianBCT from Sweden's Gambro AB for $2.6 billion, joining a list of firms eyeing to expand abroad via acquisitions.

Crude oil prices jumped to a 2-1/2-year peak on Monday as worries about supply disruption increased due to widening clashes in Libya, while world stocks fell on concern sustained high oil prices could hurt growth.

Most economists believe the Federal Reserve's bond-purchase program is helping to support U.S. growth, though many remain skeptical, a survey released on Monday found.

Food, not oil, may prove to be the bigger threat to global growth, with the pain falling disproportionately upon the developing economies that powered the latest economic recovery.

U.S. crude prices rose nearly 2 percent to 2- year highs on Monday as worries about supply disruption increased due to deepening unrest in Libya, while Asian stocks declined as concerns about the Middle East also weighed.

International private equity firms may be tempted to Russia by two potential initiatives -- a fund and a committee to look at investment in the country, a source briefed on the situation said on Sunday.

Japan is expected to make progress in beating deflation but risks to its economy remain, a senior Bank of Japan official said, stressing that the central bank is sticking to its ultra-easy policy bias.

The London Stock Exchange is eyeing a takeover of its rival Nasdaq just weeks after announcing a merger with the Toronto stock exchange, the Sunday Times reported.

Gold should push higher from its near-record levels due to its appeal as a safe haven, while iron ore should regain its upward momentum on the back of red-hot industrial demand from Asia, forecasters told the world's larger mining conference on Sunday.

Europe's biggest bank HSBC may move its headquarters from London to Hong Kong because of what it sees as high levels of tax and red tape in the UK, according to a report in the Sunday Telegraph.

Euan Rocha and Julie GordonMetals consultant GFMS sees considerable upside in global precious metals prices as an investor safe haven, its Chairman Philip Klapwijk told the world's largest mining conference on Sunday.

A whole new class of conservative investor is piling into the mining sector -- once the exclusive domain of daring risk-takers -- bringing a bonanza of funding options to junior miners racing toward production.

Germany's main business lobbies on Sunday called on countries sharing the euro currency to adopt tough rules at an upcoming summit aimed at sorting out Europe's debt crisis.

Ireland's new government will stick to the budget targets laid down in an 85 billion euro EU/IMF rescue package as it seeks to win European partners round to giving it easier terms on the loans.

Glencore is reported to have lined up one-time BP executive Rodney Chase as chairman, ahead of a possible flotation that has banks scrambling to resolve client conflicts in the hope of picking up hefty fees.

Stocks will take their cues from the oil market this week as unrest rumbles through the Middle East. But so far equity investors are sanguine, believing the economic recovery wins the day.

Commodities giant Glencore has lined up one-time BP executive Rodney Chase as chairman as it prepares for a possible $60 billion float, the Sunday Times reported.

Ireland's new government will stick to the fiscal targets laid down in an EU/IMF rescue package, a source familiar with the coalition deal agreed between the two main political parties said on Sunday.

An April rate increase is possible as the European Central Bank continues its mission to control inflation, ECB Executive Board member Jose Manuel Gonzalez-Paramo said in an interview published on Sunday.

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