CHINA

Stock index futures edged lower on Monday as economic data in China gave investors reason to pause after a three-day rally.

Stock index futures were little changed on Monday as economic data in China gave investors reason to pause after a 3-day rally.

The closer the yuan is to an equilibrium, the bigger role market forces will play in the yuan exchange rate, PBOC Governor Zhou Xiaochuan said Monday. He said the central bank will allow and encourage market forces to play a bigger role while decreasing its intervention in the market in an orderly manner.

The People's Bank of China set the yuan's midpoint against the dollar sharply lower on Monday, the second biggest single-day fall on record and the latest signal that China is willing to let its currency move within a wider range.

Investors await the Conference Board's employment trend index for February at 10 a.m. EDT, followed by the U.S. Treasury Department's budget-deficit figures for February.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc will hold its annual board meeting in India later this month in a sign of the U.S.-based bank's commitment to one of the fast-growing emerging markets, a source with direct knowledge of the matter said on Monday.

Asian stock markets ended lower Monday as disappointing Chinese trade data released over the weekend overshadowed stronger than expected US February jobs report.

Shares and the euro began trading within narrow ranges on Monday, retracing some of last week's gains, as investors paused to assess the effect of strong U.S. jobs data on the growth outlook and the potential for an end to central bank policy easing.

China will manage its $3.2 trillion of foreign currency reserves more creatively to ensure effective results, its central bank said on Monday, as it vowed to work harder to free the country's tightly controlled financial markets.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has hinted that his country will not back away from its nuclear ambitions threatened by the possibility of a U.S.-backed Israeli military strike.

Oil fell on Monday for the first time in four sessions, with Brent slipping towards $125 as global demand concerns took centerstage following weak Chinese exports, countering support from supply disruption worries in the Middle East and Africa and a brightening U.S. economic outlook.

China lowering its growth target will have no direct impact on policy and also will not necessarily mean that it is less supportive to growth in the rest of the world, according to a report by Capital Economics.

China's Sina Corp estimates 60 percent of the users of its popular microblogging Weibo platform would have registered their real identities by a March 16 deadline in compliance with government regulations, a company spokesman said on Monday.

The People's Bank of China on Monday fixed the yuan's mid-point against the dollar sharply lower, its second biggest single-day fall on record, in the latest sign China intends to let its currency move in a wider range.

Asian shares fell Monday as investors paused to assess the effect of strong U.S. jobs data, which scaled back expectations for more easing ahead of this week's Federal Reserve meeting, while concerns over China's slowdown also weighed on sentiment.

European plane-maker Airbus has teamed up with French flag-carrier Air France and supplier Safran to call for France's help in resolving tensions with China over the European Union's controversial carbon emissions tax, which they say is threatening orders, French daily Les Echos said.

The NBA on Saturday, fined New York Knicks shooting guard J.R. Smith $25,000 for posting a photo of video model Tahiry Jose on Twiiter. Smith on Friday, said he regretted the decision.

Mark Twain would have been amused by the remarks of new Apple Inc. (Nasdaq: AAPL) CEO Tim Cook last week when he announced the post-PC era. As Twain observed after reading his obituary, The report of my death was an exaggeration.

Call us crazy, but the two most recent major economic data releases by China -- the consumer price index on Friday and the trade balance on Saturday -- indicate there could be a case to be made for monetary stimulus in the world's second-largest economy.

Luxury brand Tag Heuer signed Hollywood star Cameron Diaz as the new face of the brand during the opening of the global watch event Baselworld 2012 in Switzerland.

If inflation is a dragon that must be slain, China's Premier Wen Jiabao has shown he is willing to sacrifice a part of the country's most vital asset to do so -- growth.