FALL

Stocks fell on Monday as investors shunned risk after Japan's devastating earthquake and tsunami, but the U.S. growth story was seen proceeding on track.

U.S. stock index futures fell on Monday as investors worried about the impact of Japan's devastating earthquake and tsunami.

Stock index futures pointed to a lower open on Wall Street on Monday, with futures for the S&P 500 down 0.5 percent, Dow Jones futures down 0.7 percent and Nasdaq 100 futures down 1.1 percent at 0912 GMT (5:12 a.m. ET), as investors fretted about the impact of Japan's devastating earthquake and tsunami.

Japanese shares look set to tumble this week while government bonds and the yen are expected to gain, although market players are still trying to gauge the impact of the country's worst earthquake in modern history.

U.S. stock index futures fell on Friday after a massive earthquake hit Japan and accelerating inflation in China rattled investors.

Asian shares dipped on Friday as spreading unrest in Saudi Arabia and weak economic data spurred some profit taking while the euro looked shaky after its biggest one-day fall versus the dollar in a month.

U.S. stock index futures fell on Thursday after a rating downgrade of Spain rekindled concerns over euro zone debt problems and weak Chinese trade data heightened global growth worries.

Asian stock markets and copper prices fell on Thursday after surprisingly weak Chinese trade data hit markets already nervous that higher oil prices will cut global growth.

The Nigerian naira weakened further against the U.S. dollar on the interbank market on Wednesday as strong demand for the greenback persisted in the face of static supply, traders said.

Contracts for pending sales of previously owned U.S. homes fell faster than expected in January to the slowest pace in three months, data from a real estate trade group showed on Monday.

Contracts for pending sales of previously owned homes fell faster than expected in January to the slowest pace in three months, data from a real estate trade group showed on Monday.

HSBC cut its profitability targets due to the cost of tougher global bank regulations on Monday, and disappointed investors as its 2010 earnings came in slightly below analysts' forecasts.

New claims for jobless aid fell last week, indicating labor market healing, but declines in new home sales and orders for a range of factory goods in January showed the recovery remains uneven.

The Dow and S&P slumped for a third straight day on Thursday as investors continued to fret about the economic impact of continued violence in Libya and oil prices, though gains in Priceline kept the Nasdaq in positive territory.

The following is a transcript of a nearly 20 minute conversation on February 22, 2011 between Ian Murphy, a columnist for the website known as The Buffalo Beast, and Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker. Murphy was posing as conservative activist David Koch.

South African government bonds fell to three-month lows on Wednesday but the rand firmed over 1.0 percent after the finance ministry projected a higher- than-expected budget deficit for the 2011/2012 financial year.

Consumer prices in Rwanda fell for the seventh straight month in January, largely on the cost of vegetables and fish, the National Institute of Statistics of Rwanda (NISR) said on Wednesday.

India gold traded flat on Tuesday afternoon as support from firm overseas leads was offset by a strong rupee, though buying remained weak as traders awaited an at least a 1 percent fall in prices, dealers said.

Shares in Nokia, the world's top mobile phone maker by volume, fell again on Monday as analysts cut their recommendations and earnings forecasts after its deal to use Microsoft's software.

Arabs celebrated the fall of President Hosni Mubarak on Friday, praising the determination of Egypt's protesters and hoping their demands for change would echo through the Middle East.

U.S. stock index futures fell on Friday as uncertainty gripped markets following Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak's refusal to step down after more than two weeks of civil protests throughout the country.