The U.S. economy expanded at a slower-than-expected pace in the first quarter, reflecting a deceleration in inventories and nonresidential fixed investment that was partly offset by the biggest gain in consumer spending in more than a year.
Gold prices slipped back towards $1,650 an ounce on Friday as investors cashed in gains after a three-session rally, with confidence in the metal still soft as consumers in major Asian bullion-buying centres held off making fresh purchases.
Futures on major US stock indices remained range-bound Friday ahead of the release of the economic data, which include key GDP figures.
The Bank of Japan said Friday that it is further easing the monetary policy so that the economy could recover from deflation and grow more strongly.
S&P downgrades Spain, citing debt worries.
Bank of China <601988.SS>, the country's No.3 lender by market value, posted on Thursday a near 10 percent rise in first-quarter net profit but the figure fell below expectations as flat net interest margins offset a rise in fee income.
South Korea's economy expanded 0.9 percent in the first quarter with exports making gains and domestic demand improving, data released by the Bank of Korea (BoK) Thursday showed.
Britain's economy contracted in the first quarter, its second such consecutive decline, sending Europe's third-largest economy into a double-dip recession and giving ammunition to critics of Prime Minister David Cameron's austerity measures.
Greece will no longer pay benefits to 200,000 fraudsters and dead pensioners; Greek central-bank governor warns of departure from euro zone if budget cuts are not followed
The Federal Reserve on Wednesday repeated its promise to leave interest rates on hold until at least late 2014 but offered few clues into whether it might offer additional stimulus later this year.
The United Kingdom, Europe's third-largest economy, fell into recession in the first quarter when its gross domestic product fell 0.2 percent, a contraction that followed the fourth-quarter's 0.3 percent decline.
Credit rating agency Standard & Poor's Wednesday cut India's outlook on the long-term rating to negative from stable, saying that the country's economy is facing high fiscal deficits and a heavy debt burden.
Outgoing Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said Holland faced a crisis, and asked opposition parties to support the ?16 to ?18 billion cuts needed to satisfy the EU, and financial markets, next week.
Over the past three decades, South Korea has catapulted itself from Third World-caliber poverty to becoming a technologically superior economic powerhouse.
Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday that he will step down as the leader of United Russia, the nation's dominant political party, after he assumes the presidency in May.
Mining asteroids for natural resources could make space travel cheaper, Planetary Resources Inc., a startup company backed by several billionaires, said on Tuesday.
Ever since Japan began challenging the United States as the leading automobiles and consumer electronics manufacturer in the 1980s, a debate has been raging over whether America's days as the preeminent manufacturing nation in the world are coming to an end. It would only intensify in the next two decades, when another Asian giant, China, emerged as a manufacturing power.
It is highly expected that the Bank of Japan will resort to additional monetary easing at its next meeting on April 27 so that the economy could recover from deflation and grow more strongly.
Most of the Asian stock markets declined Tuesday, following losses on Wall Street overnight as increased political uncertainty in France and the Netherlands as well as disappointing Euro zone manufacturing and services PMIs weighed on the sentiment.
Singapore's inflation rose sharply in March, driven by escalating costs of housing and automobiles, suggesting that the central bank could tighten monetary policy further to prevent overheating, especially in the housing sector.
The 17-member eurozone managed to reduce deficits to 4.1 percent of the gross domestic product in 2011, down from 6.2 percent in the previous year, according to official European Union figures released Monday. Overall debt increased to 87.2 percent of GDP from 85.3 percent.
China factory activates slumped for the sixth consecutive month, albeit at a slower pace, data released by HSBC showed.
