NEWS

Asian stocks advanced on Tuesday and oil hovered near a 27-month high, supported by U.S. data suggesting a recovery in the world's biggest economy was gathering momentum.

Asian stocks advanced on Tuesday and oil hovered near a 27-month high, supported by U.S. data suggesting a recovery in the world's biggest economy was gathering momentum.

China's recently launched anti-dumping investigation into U.S. distillers' dried grains exports could be disruptive to trade, a U.S. industry trade group said on Thursday.

Amid the chorus of commodity bulls and analysts predicting more rallies in 2011, some expect steep corrections if demand destruction sets in from high prices and big consumer China gets tougher against inflation.

Cubans who receive money from the United State are getting a cash bonus this holiday season from an Obama administration decision that should also cut the flow of underground cash between the two countries.

Shares in Japan and China eased on Tuesday as concerns that further Chinese monetary tightening will cool the engine of world economic growth overshadowed Japanese data that pointed to improving demand.

Spot gold regained lost ground on Monday, as bargain hunting trickled in after prices dropped about one percent in early trade in response to China's interest rate increase on Saturday.

The surprise timing of the People's Bank of China increase in benchmark lending and deposit interest rates is likely to weigh on commodity markets when trading starts on Monday.

Problems with the euro are being solved, and the single currency will survive, a member of the European Central Bank Governing Council, Marko Kranjec, said on Thursday.

France asked its citizens to leave Ivory Coast and the World Bank froze funding to the West African state on Wednesday, as a violent power struggle deepened between incumbent Laurent Gbagbo and his rival presidential claimant Alassane Ouattara.

China will try to import more in 2011 while keeping exports steady, Commerce Minister Chen Deming said on Wednesday, in a sign that the world's second-largest economy is keen to pull more weight as a consumer.

The euro steadied on Thursday as dealers squared up positions ahead of a meeting of European Union leaders, while U.S. Treasuries bounced after a selloff overnight took 10-year yields above 3.5 percent, sending some investors hunting for value.

The groundwork is in place for a stable yuan because China's current account surplus is trending down and other currencies have been swirling about in choppy trade, an official newspaper said on Thursday.

Members of the World Trade Organization are showing new energy and determination to reach a global trade deal but must now abandon fixed positions to clinch the agreement, the head of the WTO said on Tuesday.

U.S. dollar losses deepened on Monday, with traders chalking up the currency's broad decline to a combination of firmer risk appetite, year-end positioning and some concerns about strained U.S. finances.

Orange juice prices soared to their highest in 3-1/2 years on Monday after the National Weather Service warned a hard freeze would strike Florida on Tuesday.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel told Czech and Polish prime ministers that she would welcome their countries into the eurozone, daily Lidove Noviny reported on Saturday, citing unnamed sources.

Smithfield Foods Inc on Thursday reported quarterly earnings that beat expectations as reductions in the U.S. hog herd paid off with higher prices and profit margins.

The United States and South Korea have a reached a deal on auto issues that have blocked congressional approval of a free-trade agreement for three years, sources familiar with the talks said on Friday.

Google Inc unveiled technology on Thursday it says will help build trust between rich and poor countries on projects designed to protect the world's tropical forests.

Mozambique police fired rubber bullets and teargas at demonstrators on Friday as rioting flared in the capital following two days of protests over high bread prices in which ten people were killed and hundreds wounded.

Chinese officials have ordered state companies to meet investment bankers to explore ways to block BHP Billiton's $39 billion (£25.3 billion) bid for Potash Corp , a source with direct knowledge of the matter said.

Former Cuban leader Fidel Castro, wearing his green military cap and clothing like the comandante of old, made his first speech before the Cuban public on Friday since falling ill in 2006, warning of the threat of nuclear war.

Former Cuban leader Fidel Castro, wearing his green military cap and clothing like the comandante of old, made his first speech before the Cuban public since falling ill in 2006 on Friday, warning of the threat of nuclear war.

Chinese officials have ordered state companies to meet investment bankers to explore ways to block BHP Billiton's $39 billion bid for Potash Corp, a source with direct knowledge of the matter said.

Mozambique police fired rubber bullets and teargas at demonstrators on Friday as rioting flared in the capital following two days of protests over high bread prices that saw seven people killed and hundreds injured.

Mozambique's capital Maputo got back to work on Friday after two days of rioting, triggered by a sharp hike in bread prices, which the government said left seven dead, 288 injured and millions of dollars of damage.

The government of Saskatchewan may consider changes to its potash royalty system, in the event of a foreign takeover of Potash Corp, the premier of the western Canadian province said in a television interview on Thursday.

Already deprived of sunlight, fresh air and their loved ones for 26 days, NASA doctors say 33 miners trapped deep in a Chilean mine must continue to forego two other pleasures: alcohol and cigarettes.