MARKETS / FINANCE

Stocks accelerated declines on Monday after comments from U.S. President Barack Obama did little to soothe investors anxious over the slowing pace of the recovery.

Hewlett-Packard Co said on Monday its board approved the buyback of an additional $10 billion in shares, even as it finds itself involved in an escalating bidding war over high-end data storage company 3PAR Inc .

Diversified U.S. manufacturer 3M Co on Monday said it agreed to buy Cogent Inc for more than $900 million, paying a nearly 18 percent premium for the biometric identification systems company.

Elizabeth Warren is folksy and plain-spoken and favors cardigans over Washington power suits. Many on Wall Street view her as their worst nightmare but she is a hero to liberal activists and consumer groups.

Ireland's government signalled on Monday that gradually winding down nationalised Anglo Irish Bank could be an option as political pressure mounts on Prime Minister Brian Cowen to stem the rising cost of maintaining the troubled lender.

Stocks dipped on Monday as confidence about the economy sagged and investors were cautious ahead of several key reports coming this week.

Consumer spending rose at the strongest pace in four months in July, supported by a small gain in incomes that offered hope consumers will be able to keep contributing to a modest recovery.

The Bank of Japan boosted its cheap loan scheme on Monday, bowing to government pressure for action to protect a fragile recovery by curbing the yen's rise, while cabinet ministers signalled they may intervene to weaken the currency.

Hewlett-Packard Co's said on Monday its board approved to buy back an additional $10 billion in shares to manage dilution created by shares issued under other plans.

The Bank of Japan boosted its cheap loan scheme on Monday, bowing to government pressure for action to protect a fragile recovery by curbing the yen's rise, while cabinet ministers signalled they may intervene to weaken the currency.

As part of efforts to shift its export emphasis away from West Europe, Russia inaugurated a branch of Eastern Siberia-Pacific Ocean pipeline that delivers east Siberian oil to China.

More than half of the natural gas drillers operating in the Marcellus Shale missed the deadline to report the production levels of their wells in violation of state law, according to the Department of Environmental Protection.

As part of its rice recovery scheme, Philippines is to produce at least 500,000 metric tons of paddy rice to narrow the expected production shortfall of unmilled rice. Country's Agriculture ministry is in the process of validating its figures with the budget for its rice recovery plan during the wet cropping season.

After increasing paddy field areas, Indonesia said the country expected to see a rice surplus of 5 million tons at the end of this year.

While the gowns varied in style and color, A-list television stars opted for classic elegance at the Primetime Emmy Awards tonight wearing platinum jewelry. Whether it was a pair of stud earrings with brilliant white diamonds as seen on Kim Kardashian, or stacked cuff bracelets with colored gemstones on Kyra Sedgwick, platinum transcended all jewelry trends, making our favorite stars stand out on the red carpet. Not only is platinum the highest quality metal, but its natural white color also max...

Diwali is set to ignite the gold boom in India and the prices are expected to cross Rs 20,000 per 10 gm. According to market analysts, gold prices are expected to rise to Rs 20,000 per 10 gm and silver to run up to Rs35,000 per kg.

Russia said it is considering selling off the diamonds it bought last year for $1 billion from state-owned Alrosa, the world's largest rough diamond producer.

India's gold demand is on a makeover shift as the yellow metal is seen turning paper with rising demand of Gold ETFs in the country. According to an industry estimate, the gold holding by ETFs in India has surged to 11-12 tonnes, almost double against last year.

The Bank of Japan expanded its cheap loan scheme on Monday, heeding government calls for action to curb a rise in the yen that threatens a fragile economic recovery and leaving the door open to more policy easing.

Ireland should consider shutting down nationalised Anglo Irish Bank over a period of about five years, the Green Party, the smaller member in the governing coalition said on Monday.

Stock index futures were flat on Monday as investors awaited data on personal spending for a signal the economy can avoid a double-dip recession and after a flurry of mergers-and-acquisition activity.

Stock index futures were slightly lower on Monday as investors awaited data on personal spending for a signal the economy can avoid a double-dip recession and after a fresh batch of merger-and-acquisition activity.

A former Taiwanese diplomat who says he wants to save American International Group's Taiwan unit from being bought by a Chinese firm is lining up a $2.5 billion bid with Japanese and Middle Eastern money.

The yen rose and Japanese shares gave up some of their strong early gains on Monday after the Bank of Japan made only minor tweaks in policy, disappointing markets looking for more aggressive action against deflation.

Platinum miners are on a song this year with their profits scaling new heights. This week, Impala Platinum announced that production of platinum, palladium, rhodium and other associated metals rose from 3.43 million ounces to 3.69 million ounces this year.

World oil prices continued to move upwards in Asian trade Monday as regional stocks also took advantage of US Fed chief Bernanke's speech last week. Light sweet crude for October delivery was seen trading at $75.37 a barrel at 12.00 noon Singapore time while Brent crude was at $76.83 a barrel in London.

Anticipating excessive palm oil production this year, Thailand is considering increasing palm oil use in fuel. According to Thai Oil Palm and Palm Oil Association, palm production in the country this year is forecast at 1.5 million tones, and the industry has an additional 200,000 tones in producers' stockpiles.

After last year's drought that led to fall in food production, India's kharif crop acreage has shown tremendous improvement in 2010 on the back of good monsoon rains. So far kharif sowing has taken place in 950.22 lakh ha area which is 78.93 lakh ha more than the acreage on this date last year (871.29 lakh ha).

Gold eased in Asian trade Monday as positive trends ignited by Fed moves were offset by speculation of profit selling. Gold for immediate delivery was seen trading at $1235.34 an ounce at 12.00 noon Singapore time while US gold futures for December delivery was at $1,237.40 an ounce.