G20

Thousands of protesters marched through downtown Toronto on Saturday, setting police cars ablaze and smashing store windows in a show of opposition to the G20 summit as police in riot gear scrambled to contain the violence.

World leaders dropped a commitment on Saturday to complete the troubled Doha trade round this year and vowed to push forward on bilateral and regional trade talks until a global deal could be done.

World leaders moved away on Saturday from lockstep policy pledges to secure economic recovery, leaving countries leeway to chart their own courses in taming government debt and clamping down on banks to prevent another financial crisis.

Protesters marching through downtown Toronto set police cars ablaze and smashed store windows in a show of opposition to the G20 leadership summit, as police in riot gear scrambled to contain the violence.

(Corrects reference to Doha round in paragraph 7)

Chinese officials, in an abrupt change of emphasis, said on Saturday they welcomed discussions about currencies as part of global economic talks, but insisted Bejing alone should determine policy on the yuan.

World leaders must focus on bolstering growth in a global economy still scarred by crisis, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said on Saturday as the heads of the Group of 20 nations gathered in Canada.

Black-clad anarchists protesting the G20 summit in Toronto smashed storefronts and wrecked a police car on Saturday, while riot police donned gas masks in anticipation of an escalation of violence.

World leaders neared agreement on Saturday to halve their budget deficits within three years but, fearing spending cuts would jeopardize a fragile recovery, they planned to allow each country to set its own pace.

A draft communique from the Group of 20 wealthy and emerging countries welcomes China's move to make its currency more flexible and its efforts to boost domestic demand, a G20 official said on Saturday.

World leaders hoping to shore up a fragile economic recovery will leave it to individual countries to decide how best to repair battered budgets without stunting growth.

World leaders cast about for a common approach on Saturday to securing an uneven economic recovery that is showing signs of fading.

The world's richest economies, saddled with huge debts after spending their way out of the credit crisis, papered over differences on Friday on how to clean up their finances with minimal damage to growth.

Global regulators will dilute a reform that forces banks to hold more reserves to survive shocks without massive taxpayer help again, sources familiar with the negotiations said on Friday.

Worries about the fragility of global economic recovery hit financial markets again on Friday, knocking world stocks down for the fourth session in a row ahead of a summit of Group of 20 nations.

The euro fell broadly on Friday after investors pulled back from riskier assets as share prices fell, but the market was wary of chasing prices aggressively ahead of a Group of 20 leaders' summit.

The yuan CNY=CFXS ended at 6.7900 against the dollar on Friday, its highest close since its July 2005 revaluation, after the central bank set the daily reference rate at a post-revaluation high in an apparent goodwill gesture ahead of the G20 summit.

Asian stocks fell for a fourth straight session on Friday, driven by expectations of tighter financial regulation ahead of the weekend G20 meeting and uncertainty about the global economic recovery.

Asian stocks on Friday slid for a fourth straight session, driven by expectations of tighter financial regulation ahead of the weekend G20 meeting and uncertainty about the global economic recovery.

The dollar made little headway on Friday in subdued trade as traders marked time ahead of a Group of 20 leaders' summit this weekend, but remained wary about chasing riskier assets given debt and growth worries.

Gold dropped on Friday as early buying linked to crumbling stock markets subsided, but a rise in ETF holdings to a record high indicated persistent worries over the global economy. Investors were also looking to the Group of 20 summit this weekend in Toronto, where leaders from rich and developing nations will discuss how to plot the world's emergence from the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression.