CHINA

India’s number one software services company Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) has opened a business process outsourcing facility in the Philippines following the path of India-based BPO companies which have operations in that country.

Stock index futures were little changed on Friday, following Wall Street's biggest two-day rally in three months and ahead of key labor market data that will show whether the economic recovery is on track.

Futures for the Dow Jones industrial average, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq 100 fall 0.1 to 0.3 percent, pointing to a weaker start for equities on Wall Street on Friday.

China will switch to a prudent monetary policy from a moderately loose stance, the Communist Party's top leaders decided on Friday, a change that could pave the way for more interest rate increases and lending controls, the state Xinhua news agency reported on Friday.

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.

A growing demand for nuclear energy across much of the globe will undoubtedly make uranium a prized commodity, as new power plants proliferate. Investors seeking to capitalize on this evolving energy trend might consider a new exchange-traded fund, the Global X Uranium ETF (NYSE: URA), one of the very few investment vehicles in the world that can be regarded as a pure play on uranium.

The tension in Korean peninsula is unlikely to subside as South Korean intelligence chief Won Sei-hon said the North is highly likely to attack again.

If the ECB lives up to market expectations, the pair could rise further but a strong resistance area is up there, between 1.3266 (key long-term resistance) and 1.3357 (38.2 fibonacci retracement from June 7 lows), between which the 100-day SMA (1.3323) is also falling.

Designers of The Waterhouse at South Bund hotel in Shanghai were awarded the prestigious Architectural Review Emerging Architecture Award 2010 by the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA).

The Stanford Law School and the Graduate School of Business have come together to drive the energy revolution forward through the establishment of the Steyer-Taylor Center for Energy Policy and Finance - an interdisciplinary center to study and advance the development and deployment of clean energy technologies through innovative policy and finance.

France and Germany, the two leading countries of the euro zone, may have intentionally engineered a competitive currency devaluation by pushing private investors to share the burden of future sovereign bailouts.

Decades ago, the United States had a huge competitive edge over the rest of the world. However, that advantage is slipping away and so are American jobs.

U.S. stocks rallied in early trade on Wednesday as strong data on private payrolls, and better-than-expected manufacturing reports from China and Europe buoyed sentiment.

Spot Gold touched a near 3-week high for Dollar investors above $1396 per ounce in London trade on Wednesday, but slipped back from new record highs in Euros and Sterling as the US currency dipped on the forex market.

Futures on major U.S. indices extended earlier gains on Wednesday after ADP reported that private-sector employment recorded the largest gain in three years in November.

The precious metals were mixed in November, with silver outshining the rest with a 13.6 percent jump, followed by palladium which rose 7.75 percent. Gold managed to end the month with marginal gains of 1.87 percent while platinum fell 2.7 percent from its end-October level.

Futures on major U.S. stock indices point to higher opening on Wednesday as better-than-expected manufacturing reports from China and Europe buoyed sentiment.

Manufacturing in the eurozone expanded in November at its fastest pace in four months, boosted by strong activity in France and Germany, while manufacturing production in the U.K. touched a 16-year high, according to a survey.

Standpoint Research has downgraded American Eagle Outfitters to hold from buy, expressing concerns over the apparel retailer's store count.

China's manufacturing activity expanded in November, pointing to more inflationary pressure in the near term.

Toyota Motor Corp. is negotiating a deal to license its expertise in hybrid vehicles and to supply car parts to its Chinese partner, FAW Group Corp by 2012.