CHINA

The euro approached a four-year low against the dollar on Thursday on a newspaper report that China was examining its investments in euro zone debt, while bargain-hunting gave some support to Asian stocks.

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner takes his appeal for swift European action to calm markets to Germany on Thursday, the key player that stunned markets last week with its ban on some speculative trades.

The Australian dollar appears to be building a base in the low USD0.8000s as international financial markets remain volatile.

China is reviewing its euro zone bond holdings because of growing concerns about gaping deficits in countries including Greece and Portugal, the Financial Times reported on Wednesday.

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi sought to support the battered euro on Wednesday, but the currency extended its decline on a report that China was reviewing its euro holdings.

Wall Street staged yet another late-day reversal on Wednesday to end lower as news suggesting China was reassessing its euro-zone debt holdings pushed investors into profit-taking mode.

Sales of new U.S. homes scaled their highest level in nearly two years in April, while orders for long-lasting manufactured goods surged, giving the economy a firmer foundation to resist possible contagion from Europe's debt crisis.

Wall Street staged yet another late-day reversal on Wednesday to end lower as news suggesting China was reassessing its euro-zone debt holdings pushed investors into profit-taking mode.

Gold has exploded recently, making new highs against every major currency in the world.

Honda Motor Co was forced to shut all four of its Chinese auto assembly plants after workers at its parts factory in southern China walked off the job, demanding a wage hike

Honda Motor Co is interested to develop electric car batteries in China to tap the country's technology and vast resources.

Josephine Jimenez has a chunk of money to invest and she is hunting for opportunities in the usual places -- Zimbabwe, Tunisia, Sri Lanka, among others. Jimenez is a specialist in so-called frontier markets. She stacked up a million air miles long ago.

New orders for long-lasting U.S. manufactured goods rose more than expected in April, boosted by bookings for expensive aircraft, government data showed on Wednesday, but fell for the first time in three months excluding transportation.

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said that financial markets wanted to see how a $1 trillion EU/IMF plan to provide back-up financing for euro zone governments put into action.

Microsoft Corp Chief Executive Steve Ballmer said there are concerns that a debt crisis in the euro zone will not be restricted to the region.

Stock index futures rose on Wednesday, a day after markets clawed back from a steep sell-off and as U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner flew to Europe to press for united action to tackle the region's deepening debt crisis.

Dressed in white, the traditional color of mourning in China, the father of 19-year-old Ma Xiangqian weeps outside the gates of a sprawling electronics complex. His wife and daughter kneel alongside.

The global economy is recovering faster than expected from recession with Asia leading the way, but it is at risk from huge debts in developed countries and possible overheating in countries such as China, the OECD said on Wednesday.

Global miner Rio Tinto on Wednesday predicted strong iron ore demand to continue and gave an upbeat outlook for aluminum, defying sharp slides in commodity prices and fears of a double-dip global recession.

Stock index futures pointed to a higher opening on Wall Street on Wednesday, with futures for the S&P 500 up 0.51 percent, Dow Jones futures up 0.35 percent and Nasdaq 100 futures up 0.47 percent at 0807 GMT (4:08 a.m. ET).

A few months ago most analysts were skeptical about $1500 an ounce for gold by end of 2010, however, the recent rally in gold coupled with economic uncertainties have forced those who earlier disputed the bullish forecasts to jump on the bandwagon, according to Jeffrey Nichols, Senior Economic Advisor to Rosland Capital and Managing Director of American Precious Metals Advisors