CHINA

Key technical supports make the way downward bumpy for gold and silver, probably aided by the long-term bullishness for the precious metals while many also expect the US dollar to weaken further.

Despite the hugely successful initial public offering General Motors (NYSE: GM) underwent last week, the company still has numerous questions surrounding it, particularly its huge pension liabilities. As such, David Silver, an equity research analyst at Wall Street Strategies in New York, believes that Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F) is the better auto company and more attractive stock right now.

The most serious [economic] challenge today is that of unemployment, said Pascal Lamy, the director-general of the WTO. Lamy urges countries to expand global trade, instead of clamping down on it, to create more jobs for everyone.

Property prices in China are expected to decrease by about 20 percent in 2011 and the market is likely to readjust in March or April next year, says a report.

United States' top envoy on North Korea, on Monday, stated that the evidence of a new North Korean nuclear plant was provocative. But, he also toned down the fears that the region was on the brink of a nuclear crisis.

China has trumped US to gain the top spot for the fastest supercomputer but IBM's Blue Gene, Blue Gene/Q, has been crowned the most energy-efficient of all supercomputers.

The Chinese government has announced a slew of measures to combat rising commodity prices, including boosting agricultural production and stabilizing supply of products and fertilizers.

The nation that once gloated over its ability to feed the entire world is seeing an explosion of poverty: The number of people surviving on food stamps is rising as biting unemployment refuses to abate, personal incomes have been falling while the debt bubble is inflating with each passing day and, in a more startling representation of the grim reality, tent cities are mushrooming as more and more people are pushed out of their ‘underwater’ homes.

In an eventful week, that passed through uncertainty about Ireland's response to a bailout offer, an unexpectedly higher Chinese inflation number and its policy response and largely mixed US data, investors remained cautious about the changing 'risk-friendliness' of commodities. In a mixed precious metals segment, silver rose 5 percent in the week and palladium was up by 4.4 pct while gold fell 1.1 percent and platinum dropped by 0.9 percent from previous Friday.

Continued uncertainty at Chile's Collahuasi, the world's third largest copper mine, is likely to render positives to copper prices on Monday, or maybe well into this week, offsetting the negatives due to an expected China rate move.

Amid fresh reports of nuclear activity in North Korea, Stephen Bosworth, the U.S. special representative for North Korea policy, will meet South Korean authorities on Monday. Both sides are to discuss on resuming the six-party talks aimed at denuclearizing the North.

Toyota motors will upgrade engine assembly lines worldwide to cut output cost and make even the smaller assembling units profitable, the Nikkei daily report said.

U.S. stocks finish a volatile week with modest gains on Friday, finishing flat for the week as a whole. In the absence of major economic data in the U.S., investors focused on moves by China to rein in their inflation, while Ireland continues to negotiate a bailout arrangement from the European Union and International Monetary Fund (IMF).

A former Ford Motor Company product engineer, who has pleaded guilty to two counts of stealing trade secrets in a federal court, is likely to face six years prison term.

China will no longer give exemptions to foreign firms from the Urban Maintenance and Construction Tax and Education Surcharges.

The Central Asian nation of Turkmenistan has promised to supply natural gas for the proposed Nabucco pipeline -- a project that could allow European Union (EU) countries to rely less on Russian energy in the future.

Precious metals slid from their day's highs on Friday in New York as fears that China will soon raise rates eroded the investment appeal commodities gained on good news from Europe.

S&P 500 Index slid 5.63 points, or 0.49 percent, to trade at 1,190.71 at 09:50 a.m. EST. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is down 44.77 points, or 0.40 percent, to trade at 11,136.46. The Nasdaq Composite Index fell 0.44 percent to trade at 2,503.47.

China is intensifying efforts to fight inflation as it raised the reserve requirement ratio for banks on Friday for the fifth time this year and the second time this month.

A Chinese court sentenced the former head of the country's foremost nuclear firm for life for corruption. Kang Rixin, the former general manager at the state-owned China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC), was convicted of accepting a bribe of approximately $1 million during his tenure.

iPhone, just three years old and already attained cult status, has catapulted Apple (AAPL) to one of the largest technology companies in the world.