IBT Staff Reporter

Global miner Xstrata threatened to scrap $5.4 billion in Australian coal and copper projects, blaming a new mining tax and taking the value of new developments put on hold to above $20 billion in just a month.

Gold prices extended losses in Asian trade Thursday but ETF holdings rose to another record overnight. Gold for immediate delivery was seen trading at $ 1221.71 an ounce at 11.00 a.m Singapore time while U.S. gold futures for August delivery was at $1,223.7 an ounce.

In an attempt to overcome declining values in its forex reserves due to drop in euros value against the dollar, Iran is planning to convert 45 billion euros of its reserves into dollars and gold ingots. According to reports, Iran's central bank took this decision against a backdrop of a new phase of economic recession in Greece and Spain which has caused a drop in the value of euro against the dollar in global markets.

Gold prices surged to all time records in India and neighboring Nepal as the marriage season demands more purchase of the yellow metal. In India, world's largest gold market, prices zoomed to an all-time high of Rs 19,050 per ten grams here while in Nepal prices rose to another record high of Nepal Rs 30,910 per 10 grams.

Asian stocks jumped on Thursday, posting their biggest single-day gain in four weeks, as U.S. housing data fueled optimism about the world's largest economy.

Global oil prices climbed near $74 a barrel in Asian trade Thursday mainly after reports of decline in US crude inventories. Light sweet crude for July delivery was seen trading at $73.61 a barrel at 11.00 a.m Singapore time while Brent crude was at $ 74.45 a barrel in London.

Global miner Xstrata threatened on Thursday to scrap $5.4 billion in coal and copper projects in Australia, blaming Canberra's new mining tax and bringing to more than $20 billion the value of shelved new developments.

Facebook Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg said he has no date in mind to take the Internet social networking company public, and defended changes to the service that have provoked privacy concerns.

Group of 20 nations must agree to put public finances back on a sustainable path but in a way that doesn't choke off global recovery, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said on Wednesday.

The AUD continues to trade in a volatile manner while remaining contained within the range between USD0.8250-USD0.8450.

Ford Motor Co will eliminate its Mercury brand which has seen sales and investment plunge in recent years, closing out a vehicle lineup created in the 1930s by Edsel Ford, the automaker said on Wednesday.

A collaborative study by scientists from the UK and Kuwait found that the risk of the cancer rose with increasing numbers of dental X-rays.

Ford Motor Co and General Motors Co posted double-digit sales gains for May that outpaced growth for Toyota Motor Corp as U.S. auto sales rose 19 percent from the depressed levels of a year earlier.

The Oracle of Omaha, for once, may have failed to impress his audience. Warren Buffett, the billionaire whose investments are followed religiously on Wall Street, had no easy remedies when grilled on Wednesday about the role of credit rating agencies in fueling the financial crisis.

School programs which include lessons on nutrition and food preparation for school students could be the key to curb Australia's high obesity rate, dietitians have been told.

Traders clashed over the fragmentation and ultra high speed of today's U.S. equities marketplace on Wednesday, as one charged that more traditional orders are being gamed but another said that high-frequency traders are unfairly vilified.

For the second time in nine months the Reserve Bank of Australia left rates unchanged at 4.5% as expected and the Aussie fell as the RBA signalled policy makers may keep borrowing costs steady as 'the effects of earlier expansionary policy measures will be diminishing.'

eBay Inc Chief Executive John Donahoe said its application for Apple Inc's iPhone has been downloaded 10 million times, and the company expects $1.5 billion to $2 billion in transactions to be conducted using the mobile application this year.

U.S. auto sales rose about 19 percent in May, a rebound from depressed year-earlier levels that still leaves the industry sputtering at the lowest sales rate since the 1980s more than half a year into a grudging recovery.

Pending home sales hit a six-month high in April, data showed on Wednesday, but falling demand for home loans pointed to ebbing activity in the vital housing market due to the expiration of a popular tax credit for buyers.

Stocks rallied on Wednesday as investors rushed back into beaten-down shares, led by energy, which bore the brunt of the sell-off a day earlier.

The Oracle of Omaha suddenly seemed short of answers. Warren Buffett, the billionaire whose investments are followed religiously on Wall Street, had no easy remedies when grilled on Wednesday about the role of credit rating agencies in the financial crisis.

U.S. banks are slowly working their way through a mountain of non-performing loans from the credit crisis, but dangers still abound, two credit rating agencies said on Wednesday.

Some veteran traders slammed the deep fragmentation and high trading speeds that dominate U.S. equity markets on Wednesday, with one saying that buy and sell orders are regularly gamed,

Stocks rallied on Wednesday as investors rushed back into beaten-down stocks, led by energy, which bore the brunt of the sell-off a day earlier.

Millions of consumers have downloaded a Skype Web telephony application that launched Sunday, allowing users of Apple Inc iPhone to use privately held Skype's service over the cellular network for the first time, a Skype mobile executive said on Wednesday.

The easy access to voice mail that AT&T and T-Mobile offer their mobile phone subscribers when abroad infringes patents held by a Swiss company, a lawsuit filed in federal court in Delaware says.

The yen dropped on Wednesday as the resignation of Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama raised concerns about the outlook for the currency, given that his likely successor has said in the past he wanted a weaker yen.

Nearly 5 million consumers have downloaded a Skype Web telephony application that launched Sunday, allowing users of Apple Inc's iPhone to use privately held Skype's service over the cellular network for the first time, Skype said on Wednesday.