IBT Staff Reporter

The Australian Dollar was sold off two US Cents towards 0.8200 overnight and has subsequently traded below 0.8200 following reports out of Europe regarding Europe's debt crisis, which may have spread to Hungary.

Some of UK insurer Prudential's largest shareholders have approached former chief executive Mark Tucker over a possible return to the helm of the company, British media reported on Monday.

The Australian Dollar opens the new week sharply lower at 0.8190.

Yahoo Inc is planning to introduce features that will give its users even more access to updates from the popular social networking site Facebook, expanding a partnership the web companies struck last year.

The global economy looks likely to avoid a relapse into recession, although the next six months may be anemic, with three main causes for concern.

U.S. stocks could face more pressure this week unless investors get some relief from worries about Europe, jobs and the toll they might take on the economic recovery.

Gold seems most likely to trade in a wide band this week, possibly as wide as $1,180 and $1,250. Gold's appeal as a safe haven and hedge against volatile economic conditions continues to be evident.

iPhone maker Foxconn has offered workers at its Shenzhen manufacturing hub in China a 66 percent performance-based pay rise as it tries to deal with the fallout from a spate suicides there.

Spain may make it easier for companies to bypass unions to lower workers' pay and conditions if they can prove they are in financial difficulty, El Mundo newspaper reported on Sunday, citing government sources.

UK insurer Prudential is not considering a renewed attempt to buy AIG's Asian life unit, a spokesman for the company said on Sunday, denying a media report that a fresh takeover proposal was in the works.

The chairman of the Eurogroup of euro zone finance ministers, Jean-Claude Juncker, dismissed concerns on Sunday that Hungary might face a Greek-style debt crisis and said the current level of the euro did not worry him.

Australian police have been asked to investigate internet giant Google over possible breaches of telecommunications privacy laws, the attorney general said on Sunday.

Australian police have been asked to investigate internet giant Google over possible breaches of telecommunications privacy laws, Attorney General Robert McClelland said on Sunday.

Bangladesh has lifted a ban on social networking site Facebook after it removed objectionable content about the Prophet Mohammad and the country's political leaders, the telecoms regulatory agency said on Sunday. Facebook was blocked last week after publication of caricatures of the Prophet that hurt the religious sentiments of the country's majority Muslim population.

UK insurer Prudential is not considering a renewed attempt to buy AIG's Asian life unit, a spokesman for the company said on Sunday, denying a media report that a fresh takeover proposal was in the works.

Google Inc said on Saturday it would hand over data it collected through wireless networks to French, German and Spanish authorities as it faces mounting legal issues concerning its data collection.

Hungary's government said on Saturday it aimed to meet this year's budget deficit target, seeking to draw a line under exaggerated talk of a possible Greek-style debt crisis that has unnerved global markets.

India-based leading commodity bourse, National Commodities and Derivatives Exchange (NCDEX) has achieved yet another milestone of having one of the most successful steel contract in the world. The exchange today maintained that the average daily traded volumes are in the range of 20, 000 MT vis-à-vis the last 4 years corresponding figure of 9,000 MT.

In a landmark development in India's oil & gas sector history, the empowered group of ministers is believed to deregulate fuel prices in the second week of June, 2010. In India retail fuel prices had been administered by the central government so as to keep the end consumers safe from the uncertainties of the global crude oil price fluctuations.

New York gold climbed overnight after equity markets dropped though the euro also tumbled to a four year low. Gold for August delivery added $7.70, or 0.6%, to $1,217.70 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The comeback assured gold a 0.3% gain on the shortened holiday week and stopped a downward trend that had started Wednesday.

Gold, platinum and other bullion metals grabbed the center-stage on the Tokyo Commodity Exchange Inc (TOCOM) during the month of May 2010 with staggering volume growth in the bullion commodities. Gold witnessed average daily volume of 66,354 contracts in May 2010 up by 33.9% from 49,545 contracts recorded in April 2010. Platinum contracts increased by 28.1% to 28,981 contracts during the month. The monthly trading volumes in gold and platinum remained at the top with gold monthly volumes at 1194...

China's currency policies were spared a specific mention in the Group of 20 communique on Saturday, but U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and the IMF kept up pressure for a stronger yuan.

Hungary's government said on Saturday it aimed to meet this year's budget deficit target, seeking to draw a line under exaggerated talk of a possible Greek-style debt crisis that unnerved global markets a day earlier.

The Group of 20 leading economies reached an uneasy compromise on Saturday over the speed of budget cuts needed to calm global financial markets rattled by a spreading debt crisis in Europe.

Berlin and Moscow agree that a stable euro is key for global financial stability and sustainable economic growth, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said on Saturday.

Europe is close to completing stress tests on its banks to gauge their ability to withstand a market slump and the results should be published to help restore market confidence, top European Central Bank officials said on Saturday.

The euro zone is facing a period of zero growth if not recession, and the United States is heading for financial trouble, U.S. economist Nouriel Roubini was quoted as saying on Saturday.

The world's top economies scrapped plans for a universal global bank tax on Saturday, giving countries plenty of wiggle room over how to make banks pay for their bailouts in future.

Hungary's government said on Saturday it still aimed to meet this year's deficit target, as it sought to draw a line under exaggerated talk of a possible Greek-style debt crisis that had unnerved markets a day earlier.