FEDERAL RESERVE

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.

Major stock indexes were set to open about 1 percent lower on Monday after last week's much weaker-than-expected report on March U.S. job creation.

U.S. stock index futures traded lower on Monday after last week's much weaker-than-expected report on U.S. job creation for March.

Leading indicators in the Labor Department's March employment report, released Friday, suggest that the U.S. economic recovery may have run out of gas, David A. Rosenberg, chief economist and strategist at Gluskin Sheff & Associates Inc., said in a note.

Stock futures on U.S. indexes, which stopped trading at 9:15 a.m. EDT because of the Good Friday holiday, plunged after the Labor Department reported weaker-than-expected jobs numbers for March.

U.S. employers hired 120,000 workers in March, well below economists' forecast, and the smallest gain since October, signaling the economy could be losing momentum.

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.

The Federal Reserve's balance sheet shrank in the latest week, Fed data released on Thursday showed.

Gold rose on Thursday, as investors covered short positions after a sharp two-day pullback, and a crude oil rally also buoyed the precious metal that sank early this week on disappointment about further U.S. monetary easing.

Consumer loan delinquency rates dropped in all 11 categories tracked by the American Bankers Association, ABA, in fourth quarter 2011, a sign that deleveraging has worked and Americans' personal financial situations have become more stable.

Stocks were little changed on Thursday despite data showing ongoing improvement in the labor market, as a rise in Spanish bond yields renewed concerns about the euro zone's financial health.

Wall Street was set for a lower open despite data showing ongoing healing in the labor market, as a rise in Spanish bond yields renewed concerns about the euro zone's financial health.

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.

Stock index futures pointed to a slightly higher open on Wall Street on Thursday with futures for the S&P 500 and Dow Jones up 0.3 percent, while Nasdaq 100 futures were up 0.1 percent at 04.08 a.m. EDT.

Asian shares fell Thursday after a weak Spanish bond sale heightened concerns about funding difficulties by lower-rated euro zone countries, further undermining sentiment hurt by fading expectations for more stimulus from the U.S. Federal Reserve.

A new Federal Reserve study shows that foreign companies cross-listed on U.S. exchanges receive a disproportionate amount of investment from Americans, mostly because of greater transparency.

American International Group shares rose nearly 7 percent to a one-year high on Wednesday on news that it could reap billions of dollars from asset sales in the near future.

Trading on nonpublic information is already illegal for House and Senate members, but the new law bars them and any other federal employee from trading on nonpublic information about upcoming legislation or regulations. It also tightens disclosure requirements on financial transactions.

Wall Street stocks were looked likely to open lower open on Wednesday, despite good private sector payrolls data, as investors digested minutes from the latest Federal Reserve meeting published Tuesday suggesting further monetary stimulus action is unlikely.

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.

She didn't mention the U.S. central bank's two previous rounds of bond-buying known as quantitative easing, but Lagarde stressed that past action by the Fed and European regulators helped keep growth strong and steady.