CHINA

Stock index futures pointed to a higher open on Wall Street on Wednesday, with futures for the S&P 500 up 0.07 percent, Dow Jones futures up 0.09 percent and Nasdaq 100 futures up 0.25 percent.

The parent of China's Geely Automobile has secured financing to buy Ford-owned Volvo cars for about 15 billion Swedish crowns ($2.10 billion), a Swedish business daily reported on Wednesday.

Concerns over Europe's fiscal problems hit the euro and sterling on Wednesday, while world stocks hovered near their recent six-week highs, though they were still up 66 percent from a low hit one year ago.

The euro and sterling were under pressure on Wednesday after renewed concerns about Europe's fiscal problems but oil, copper and the Australian dollar were supported by China's strong export and import data.

Oil fell toward $81 a barrel on Wednesday in volatile trade as expectations for a gain in U.S. crude stockpiles offset surging Chinese imports.

More than 100 Chinese consumers have filed an official complaint against Hewlett-Packard Co over faulty laptop computers, leaving the door open for a lawsuit against the U.S. technology company, a lawyer for the group said on Wednesday.

Oil reversed earlier losses to gain a few cents toward $82 on Wednesday after China said imports jumped in February, boosting evidence that emerging Asian economies will lead global demand back into growth this year.

Asian stocks hovered near six-week highs on Wednesday as Chinese data showed exports and imports in February were better than expected, while the euro and the pound suffered on renewed concerns about Europe's fiscal problems.

The United States is studying whether it can legally challenge Chinese Internet restrictions that hurt Google and other U.S. companies operating in China, but direct talks with Beijing might yield faster results, the top U.S. trade official said on Tuesday.

Cisco Systems Inc, introduced a new router that it says will handle Internet traffic 12 times faster than rival products, as it looks to compete with rivals such as Juniper Networks Inc.

Amid growing demand for video and mobile applications for the largest network carriers, hardware maker Cisco on Tuesday unveiled its latest router, which the company says will give carriers 12 times the traffic capacity of currently available devices.

The United States would not have any standing to bring a case against Chinese Internet restrictions to the World Trade Organisation, a Chinese adviser on WTO strategy said in an opinion piece on Tuesday.

Britain risks decades of slow economic decline unless it invests heavily in research, which at the moment is one of the country's few genuine areas of economic competitive advantage, leading scientists said on Tuesday.

Japan's government on Tuesday vowed to stick to its ban on nuclear arms after a probe showed its predecessors may have turned a blind eye to breaches, but said ties with security ally Washington would not be affected.

Iran said on Tuesday it hoped China would not give in to pressure to agree to new sanctions that the United States and its allies hope to win U.N. approval for over its nuclear program.

Experts maintained stable outlook for oil & gas and base metal industry. However, the long term outlook for thermal coal is positive, with 220 GW of coal-fired electricity generation capacity expected to come online over the next 5 years, requiring over 750 Mt of coal. The outlook for oil and gas prices remains broadly unchanged, with oil prices still expected to rise. Oil prices have hovered around USD 70 per barrel for the past three months. This relative stability at an economically viable le...

At a time when jewellery retailers and gold buyers are crying foul over the increase in import duty on gold and silver, there is a surprise element for jewellery makers which will make them happy. While presenting the Budget, India's finance minister Pranab Mukherjee said import duty on gold and platinum will go up from Rs 100 to Rs 300 per 10 gm.

Has the consumer behaviour towards spending money for buying gold and silver changed thanks to the surge in bullion prices in the last few months? Yes, consumer preferences for buying gold and jewellery items have drastifally changed thanks to the bullion price spike, says a study by Exim Bank, a government owned bank in India. According to the study by Exim Bank, increasing domestic demand, along with an anticipated pick-up in exports, is likely to drive growth of Indian jewellery market in the...

The yen gained across the board on Tuesday as most world equity markets fell, illustrating a rise in risk aversion as investors moved into the low-yielding Japanese currency. Appetite for risk had been boosted by Friday's better-than- expected U.S. employment report, pushing the yen down to two-week lows versus the euro and the dollar.

China, the world's biggest holder of foreign exchange reserves, renewed its commitment to the U.S. Treasury market on Tuesday but said it would be wary of substantially boosting its gold holdings.

The Internet was built on freedom of expression. Society wants someone held accountable when that freedom is abused. And major Internet companies like Google and Facebook are finding themselves caught between those ideals.