MARKETS / FINANCE

Political momentum was expected to carry a sweeping Wall Street reform bill to approval in the Congress, but the death of Senator Robert Byrd threatened to delay final action until mid-July.

Bank of Canada Governor Mark Carney has been named chairman of a Basel-based committee of global central bankers who discuss financial market policies, the bank said on Tuesday.

Google Inc said on Tuesday it will stop automatically rerouting users in China to an uncensored search page, a move that aims to preserve its operating license and signals a fight to save the firm's Chinese business.

Google Inc said it will stop automatically redirecting Web searchers in China to an uncensored portal in Hong Kong as it hopes to convince Beijing to renew its operating license in the world's largest Internet market.

Strikes in Greece and Spain highlighted resistance to Europe-wide austerity measures on Tuesday as the euro and shares tumbled ahead of a deadline for banks to repay a giant European Central Bank cash injection.

June 29 - About 10,000 people take part in marches across Athens during a nationwide strike against austerity measures. -- Greece starts to debate overhaul of pensions to raise women's retirement age from 60 to match men at 65 and demand more years at work to qualify for a pension. Greece's debt reached 133 percent of GDP in 2010.

Stocks dropped 2 percent on Tuesday after data showed U.S. consumer confidence fell steeply in June on worries about the labor market.

Historically, when India's retail gold markets remained fragmented and unorganized, price parity was a major concern. Distance between places played key role in price differentiation in yellow metal. But with electronic exchanges rapidly taking shape and number of participants in Gold trading seen rising, the price disparity within India started wearing away.

Wall Street was set to fall about 1 percent at open on Tuesday on fresh concerns over fiscal problems in the euro zone ahead of bank repayments to the European Central Bank this week.

The euro hit an all-time low versus the Swiss franc and an 8-1/2-year trough against the yen on Tuesday as investors worried about the expiry of a key euro zone refinancing programme this week. The yen rallied as a 2 percent fall in European shares .FTEU3 raised the safe-haven appeal of the Japanese currency, along with the Swiss franc and the dollar, while the high-risk Australian and New Zealand dollars took a beating.

Stock index futures pointed to a decline of about 1 percent at the open on Tuesday as fresh concerns mounted over fiscal problems in the euro zone ahead of bank repayments to the European Central Bank this week.

The National Inflation Association in its update of 'Gold and Silver Seller Reviews' launched in January has decided to award the 'NIA 2010 Best Bullion Award' to Gainesville Coins.

Soon, gold is all set to cross the Rs 19,000 per 10 gm mark in India with global trends showing a huge rise in the coming days following the financial uncertainty continuing in global economy.

Britain's top shares fell sharply on Tuesday as renewed fears over global growth and worries about Europe's debt problems hit risk appetite, sending commodity-linked assets and banks sharply lower.

Gold inched higher in Europe on Tuesday as persistent concerns over the euro zone debt crisis supported safe-haven demand for the metal, but the stronger dollar limited gains.

The yuan CNY=CFXS weakened slightly against the dollar in the onshore spot market and offshore forwards on Tuesday as investors saw little opportunity for the Chinese currency to appreciate sharply in the near term after the end of the G20 summit over the weekend.

World stocks hit a 2-1/2 week low on Tuesday while oil and the euro also slipped as investors grew nervous over the funding situation of banks about to repay 442 billion euros ($545.5 billion) to the European Central Bank.

Oil prices fell 2 percent to below $77 per barrel on Tuesday as stock markets slumped and risk appetite dwindled on renewed worries over euro zone debt.

Gold held near $1,235 an ounce in Europe on Tuesday as persistent concerns over the euro zone debt crisis supported safe-haven demand for the metal, but the stronger dollar limited gains.

Stock index futures pointed to a sharply lower open on Wall Street on Tuesday, with futures for the S&P 500 down 1.4 percent, Dow Jones futures down 1.1 percent and Nasdaq 100 futures down 1.4 percent at 0930 GMT.

The euro hit a lifetime low against the Swiss franc and an 8 1/2-year trough versus the yen on Tuesday as stocks weakened and investors braced for a key euro zone refinancing programme to expire this week.

Europe told the G8 summit it may consider spending public funds to inject capital into banks depending on the outcome of stress tests now under way in the region, Japan's Nikkei business daily reported on Tuesday.

Japan's Nikkei average slipped 0.6 percent on Tuesday, erasing earlier gains as exporters fell on a stronger yen and charts remained grim, with the benchmark poised for its worst quarter since Lehman Brothers failed in 2008.

The euro slumped to a lifetime low against the Swiss franc and a 1-1/2-year trough versus sterling on Tuesday, stung by liquidity concerns before a key euro zone refinancing program expires this week.

The euro hit an 8 1/2-year low versus the yen on Tuesday as the single currency struggled broadly due to investor jitters about liquidity issues before a euro zone refinancing programme expires this week.

The Supreme Court on Monday struck down part of a law to prevent fraud committed by companies like Enron and WorldCom, saying a board to police public companies' auditors violated the Constitution.

The euro hit a lifetime low against the Swiss franc and a three-week trough versus the yen on Tuesday on funding jitters ahead of a deadline for European banks to repay money to the European Central Bank.

The yuan was little changed against the dollar in the onshore spot market and offshore forwards on Tuesday as investors saw little opportunity for the Chinese currency to appreciate sharply in the near term after the end of the G20 summit over the weekend.

Oil fell as much as 1.7 percent to below $77 on Tuesday as forecasts indicated tropical storm Alex would skirt the main production region in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico, limiting disruption there to a few precautionary shutdowns.