CHINA

Central bank reserve holdings have exploded globally in the last decade and nowhere more so than in Asia, where the biggest piles of cash are. Since 2000, global foreign exchange reserves have grown by a staggering $6.15 trillion and stood at $8.09 trillion at the end of 2009, or 14 percent of the world's gross domestic product, International Monetary Fund data showed.

Production line workers at Foxconn's southern China manufacturing hub will get a 30 percent pay rise, as top customer Apple Inc called recent suicides at the plant troubling but said the site was not a sweatshop.

UK insurer Prudential Plc is pulling out of its bold $35.5 billion takeover of AIG's Asian life insurance arm, ending a 3-month battle with shareholders who had argued the deal was over-priced.

Asian stocks followed Wall Street down on Wednesday as jitters over the euro zone's debt crisis prompted investors to keep cutting riskier positions, while the euro steadied after hitting a four-year low.

Apple Inc Chief Executive Steve Jobs finds troubling a string of worker deaths at Foxconn, the contract manufacturer that assembles the company's iPhones and iPads, but said its factory in China is not a sweatshop.

British insurer Prudential plc is withdrawing from a $35.5 billion deal to buy American International Group Inc's Asian life insurance business AIA, paving the way for a potential listing of AIA.

World oil prices extended overnight losses in Asian trade Wednesday as the dollar moved up amid weak market trends. Light sweet crude for July delivery was seen trading at $72.04 a barrel at 11.30 a.m Singapore time while Brent crude was at $72.27 a barrel in London. Analysts said after the long holiday weekend, the market was focused on economic storm clouds in the Euro zone and China.

Apple Inc Chief Executive Steve Jobs said on Tuesday Foxconn, the global contract manufacturer that assembles the company's iPhones and iPads in China, is not a sweatshop.

Manufacturing grew for a 10th straight month in May and construction spending notched its fastest pace in nearly 10 years in April, suggesting the U.S. economy will add jobs and weather Europe's debt storm.

Stocks were little changed on Tuesday after data showed manufacturing expanded for a tenth straight month, but worries of wider fallout from the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico kept a lid on gains.

Wall Street was little changed in choppy mid-day trading on Tuesday after erasing losses as data showing U.S. manufacturing expanded for a tenth straight month failed to quell fears of a slowing economy.

AIG's rejection of a lowered takeover offer by Prudential for its Asian life insurance business has shifted attention back to the company's IPO plans.

Wall Street rose on Tuesday as U.S. construction spending recorded its largest monthly increase in nearly 10 years and U.S. manufacturing expanded in for a tenth straight month.

U.S. stock index futures indicated a drop of more than 1 percent at the open on Tuesday as a slowdown in global manufacturing added to doubts about the pace of an economic recovery.

Dow and S&P index futures indicated a drop of about 1 percent at the open on Tuesday as a slowdown in Asian manufacturing added to doubts about the pace of an economic recovery.

General Motors will invest an additional 700 million reais ($384.62 million) to modernize and boost production at a plant in Brazil, one of the world's largest auto markets, the company said on Monday.

The pace of China's factory output eased last month as gradual policy tightening took a toll on new orders, suggesting to some economists that Beijing will take its time before nudging interest rates higher.

Stock index futures indicated a drop of more than 1 percent at the open on Tuesday as a slowdown in Asian manufacturing added to doubts about the pace of an economic recovery.

Stock index futures pointed to a sharply lower open on Wall Street on Tuesday following a long holiday weekend, as mounting doubts over the pace of the global economic recovery hit stocks worldwide.

Honda Motor Co made little progress on Tuesday in resuming production at a parts factory in south China after a prolonged and high-profile strike that has highlighted growing labor unrest in the region.

The euro fell to a 4-year low against the dollar on Tuesday as fears the euro zone's debt crisis could spread to its banking system hit the single currency, while deteriorating sentiment supported the greenback.