INFLATION

Gold steadied on Tuesday, surrendering earlier gains as a rally sparked by expectations that a sluggish U.S. employment market could fuel further monetary easing ran out of steam in the face of a firming dollar and easing appetite for risk.

Oil prices at record levels in euro terms are threatening to rock the euro zone's economy more than might be expected, with those countries least capable of riding out a shock being the worst hit.

The Bank of Japan kept monetary policy steady as expected on Tuesday, holding off on any further steps to help meet its new inflation target and boost activity ahead of a more thorough assessment of the economy later this month.

BOJ policy-makers voted to keep the central bank's key rate within a range of zero to 0.1 percent and to maintain the size of its asset-buying program at 65 trillion yen.

The Bank of Japan kept monetary policy steady on Tuesday, holding fire until a more thorough assessment of the economy at another rate review in two weeks that may show further action is needed to nudge inflation up towards its 1 percent target.

Gold prices rose more than 1 percent on Monday, recovering from last week's hefty drop after disappointing U.S. jobs data revived hopes for fresh monetary easing and a spike in Chinese inflation boosted appetite for the metal.

Depending on where you look, Asia's inflation is either benign or stubbornly hot.

Futures on major US indices point to a lower opening Monday after US non-farm payrolls data showed that the world's biggest economy added fewer-than-expected jobs in March.

China's annual inflation rate jumped more than expected in March to 3.6 percent as food prices remained volatile, but economists believe price pressures will moderate over the rest of year, giving Beijing the flexibility to ease monetary policy to support growth.

Premier Wen Jiabao recently said China's consumer price inflation target for the year would be around 4 percent. On Friday, data on first-quarter gross domestic product should indicate if any change in monetary policy is needed.

China's annual inflation spiked unexpectedly in March to 3.6 percent driven by rising food prices, data showed on Monday, surprising investors who had bet on cooling price pressures to give Beijing room to ease monetary policy.

Sometimes a little bit of inflation is not such a bad thing. In the United States, prices starting to creep upward shows the deep wounds from the credit crisis are slowly healing and the U.S. economy is well on the road to recovery.

The head of Traxis Partners still believes U.S. stocks will head higher in coming months, but he's concerned about a near-term pullback as the European debt crisis intensifies and hopes for more Fed bond-buying dim.

Global food prices rose in March for a third successive month, driven by gains in grains and vegetable oils, the United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization said on Thursday, putting food inflation firmly back on the economic agenda.

Gold inched higher on Thursday after falling to a near three-month low the previous day as weaker prices tempted some buyers, but gains were capped by a stronger dollar and fading hopes for a fresh round of monetary stimulus in the United States.

The Bank of England left its monetary policy on hold on Thursday, judging that no addition to its current stimulus was yet necessary as the economy looks to be stumbling back to growth.

The financial expert and Gloom, Boom & Doom Report publisher predicts a massive loss of wealth sometime down the line, citing unresolved financial excess.

The European Central Bank held its main interest rate at 1.0 percent on Wednesday as persistently high inflation offset pressure to respond to the euro zone's shaky economic recovery.

The European Central Bank held its main interest rate at 1.0 percent on Wednesday as persistently high inflation offset pressure to respond to the euro zone's shaky economic recovery.

Crude oil prices declined in Asian trade Wednesday as the Federal Reserve released minutes from a recent meeting dashed hopes for a fresh dose of quantitative easing (QE3) in the near future.

Investors re-adjusted their value calculations for risky assets on Tuesday, selling off stocks, bonds and all manner of commodity futures after the Federal Reserve released minutes from the most recent meeting of its rate-setting committee. The minutes strongly suggested that the U.S. central bank was backing away from the possibility of further monetary easing in the short-run, including any kind of quantitative easing.