FEDERAL RESERVE

The Federal Reserve's move to purchase an additional $600 billion in bonds carries risks and should be reviewed on a regular basis, Richmond Fed President Jeffrey Lacker said on Monday.

In a CBS interview, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke took shots at foreign critics who openly bashed QE2 in the days leading up to the November 11 G20 Summit.

S&P 500 Index slid 3.63 points, or 0.31 percent, to trade at 1,220.95 at 09:55 a.m. EST. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is down 30.08 points, or 0.26 percent, to trade at 11,352.01. The Nasdaq Composite Index fell 0.28 percent to trade at 2,584.64.

Futures on the S&P 500 are down 0.30 percent to 1,219.80, futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average are down 0.21 percent to 11,340.00 and Nasdaq100 futures are down 0.19 percent to 2,183.00.

The Federal Reserve could end up buying more than the $600 billion in U.S. government bonds it has committed to purchase if the economy fails to respond or unemployment stays too high, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke said.

During a CBS interview, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke did not rule out the possibility of more asset purchases, meaning a third round of quantitative easing (QE3) is possible.

Gold rose almost 2 percent on Friday, ending the week on $1,414 an ounce just a few dollars below the all-time record, as the dollar tumbled after disappointing jobs data cast doubt on the strength of the U.S. economic recovery.

A late-session rally pushed stocks modestly into the black after a very disappointing November jobs report battered equities earlier in the day.

Auctions of $123 billion in U.S. securities will draw traders' focus in the U.S. government securities market next week and could push U.S. Treasury yields higher.

The unemployment rate in the U.S. surprisingly edged up in November after remaining constant for three months, the U.S. Labor Department reported on Friday.

The Federal Reserve's latest drive to push down borrowing costs was necessary to support a frail economic recovery, Cleveland Fed President Sandra Pianalto said on Thursday.

The U.S. Federal Reserve's controversial $600 billion bond buying program is subject to regular review and can be adjusted if needed, top Fed officials said on Thursday.

With the current round of [US quantitative easing] set to end in June 2011, and our US economics team now forecasting strong US economic growth in 2011 and 2012, we expect US real interest rates to begin to rise into 2012, says a new bullion report from former investment-bank Goldman Sachs.

The health of the American economy and the level of accommodation in monetary policy are the two most important factors that influence U.S. stock price movements. In 2011, it seems U.S. equities may get support both.

The Federal Reserve's controversial $600 billion bond buying program is subject to regular review and can be adjusted if needed, two Fed officials said on Thursday.

Republican lawmakers on Thursday met with a senior Federal Reserve official who opposes the central bank's easy money policies to discuss stripping the Fed of its task of ensuring full employment.

The Federal Reserve's balance sheet grew for a fifth consecutive week and closed in on its record size, with the rise stemming from its ongoing purchases of Treasuries, Fed data released on Thursday showed.

U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke will appear on the news program 60 minutes on Sunday, part of an effort by the central bank to step up its public communications.

The Federal Reserve's controversial $600 billion bond buying program is subject to regular review and can be adjusted if needed, two Fed officials said on Thursday.

In an Interview with IBTimes, Srinivas Thiruvadanthai explores the concept of balance sheet recessions and other factors that make the Great Recession so severe.

The global economic recovery had started losing momentum from mid-2010 and all the indicators point to weaker growth next year, said a report by United Nations (UN) on Wednesday.