EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK

Gold rose Thursday, led by a climb in the euro on the back of growing confidence in Greece's ability to complete a bond swap to avoid defaulting on its debt, and by evidence that this week's decline to six-week lows had lifted investor demand.

The European Central Bank held interest rates at 1.0 percent for the third month running on Thursday, pausing to assess the impact of a dramatic sweep of measures that has unsettled some at the bank.

The European Central Bank is expected to keep interest rates on hold later on Thursday and signal that it has played its part in fighting the euro zone crisis after unleashing a dramatic sweep of measures that has unsettled some at the bank.

The European Central Bank is expected to keep interest rates on hold later on Thursday and signal that it has played its part in fighting the euro zone crisis after unleashing a dramatic sweep of measures that has unsettled some at the bank.

Equities worldwide were in sell-off mode Tuesday, as nagging uncertainty about Greece, sobering news about China's economy and traders' realization that U.S. and European central banks might be finished with cash infusions all seemed to weigh on investors.

There continue to be multiple signs that the U.S. economy is expanding at a solid clip.

The euro zone sovereign debt crisis has eased in recent weeks, ECB Governing Council member Athanasios Orphanides said on Saturday, adding more needed to be done to convince markets the euro zone had an effective crisis handling mechanism in place.

Moody's Investors Service on Friday cut the credit ratings of Greece, saying that the recently announced debt-exchange proposals for the country imply expected losses to investors of more than 70 percent.

The week ahead will largely be defined by two major events. First, on Friday, the February U.S. nonfarm payrolls report will be released, providing important data about the economic recovery. Second, also on Friday, euro-zone finance ministers will hold a conference call to decide whether Greece can get its second, €130 billion ($175 billion) bailout.

Rising liquidity on both sides of the Atlantic boosted global bond prices Friday but equities took a breather after climbing in recent months, in one case to a four-year high, on light volume.

Barclays Plc tapped the European Central Bank for 8.2 billion euros ($10.8 billion) of cheap funding this week, marking a U-turn for the bank as it had previously been worried about the risk of political interference if it took funds.

A renewed drop in housing prices could thwart the U.S. economic recovery in the short term while Washington's lack of a credible, comprehensive fiscal plan poses a major medium-term risk, a top IMF official said.

The U.S. economic recovery could be dented by a renewed drop in housing prices in the short term and the country lacks a credible, comprehensive fiscal plan, posing a major medium-term economic risk, a top IMF official said.

Barclays Plc has taken 8.2 billion euros ($10.9 billion) of the European Central Bank's (ECB) long-term refinancing operation (LTRO), which offers three-year loans to banks at a rate of 1 percent, in order to manage funding gaps in Spain and Portugal.

The BSE Sensex was on track for its second weekly fall in a row as the market seesawed on Friday after a muted response to a government stake sale in Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC.NS) raised concerns about divestment programmes.

Austerity and reform finely balanced to bring back growth in Europe in face of record unemployment rates.

Euro zone manufacturing contracted in February for the sixth month in a row, according to a Markit Economics report published Thursday, but the sector may be stabilizing as increases begin to offset decreases.

European shares extended gains into the Wall Street open on Thursday as an already positive sentiment was further supported by unemployment data confirming the U.S. jobs market is improving.

Greece has approved pension and health care cuts as part of the reforms agreed in return for the 130 billion euro ($171 billion) bailout deal approved by the Eurozone.

Spot gold rose more than 1 percent Thursday, recovering from its biggest fall in more than three years in the previous session when U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke failed to signal further monetary easing.

Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke said Wednesday job growth was better than expected and inflation under control, leaving markets thinking central bank intervention was a long way off. The upshot was a dollar rally that hammered gold, stocks and government bonds.