Stock index futures edged higher on Monday as investors focused on a European meeting intended to find ways to boost the region's economies and tackle a debt crisis and prepared for the start of U.S. corporate earnings.
German exports bounced back in November boosting the country's trade surplus, a sign that Europe's largest economy may avoid a sharp slowdown in contrast to France which is expected to have run up a record trade deficit in 2011.
A weakening dollar combined with bargain hunting, short covering and Chinese physical demand to lift gold prices Monday for the fifth time in the last six trading sessions.
Here are the some of the key trends to watch as the electronics industry moves into 2012: morphing, personalization and interfaces, said Sean Dubravac, chief economist for the Consumer Electronics Association.
American automotive manufacturer General Motors (GM) has thrown down the gauntlet to reigning luxury brands in the market like German companies BMW and Mercedes Benz, by unveiling its compact Cadillac ATS sports sedan.
Lenovo has announced plans to release an Android 4-powered smart TV, called the K91, which will come out first in China and then around the world.
The global electronics market will exceed $1 trillion for the first time, with continued gains for smartphones, tablets and Internet and LED TVs, the Consumer Electronics Association said in its 2012 forecast.
Counting container ships plying the high seas and air cargo takeoffs is one way to track the outlook for the global economy. Both measures point to weak growth in the months ahead but no severe storms.
Canada's famously conservative banks, hit last week by a high profile downgrade, may still be the least bad option for Canadian investors in what could be another ugly year for stock markets.
China's banks ratcheted up lending in the last month of 2011 on the back of stronger money supply, reinforcing perceptions that the central bank is gently easing policy to cushion the impact of the global economic slowdown.
Republican presidential candidates stepped up their attacks on rival Mitt Romney in a televised debate on Sunday morning -- a mere two days before primary-election voters in New Hampshire head to the polls -- and the front-runner mostly weathered the attacks.
The head of Europe's bailout fund was reported on Sunday as saying he wants to boost state guarantees on the fund's bonds, although a fund official said no changes had been made to an original plan.
Chinese banks ratcheted up the pace of lending in the last month of 2011 to 640.5 billion yuan ($101.51 billion) from 562.2 billion yuan in November as the central bank eases policy to cushion the domestic impact of the global economic slowdown.
South Korean President Lee Myung Bak will ask China's leaders this week to use their influence to lean on North Korea to show restraint amid a delicate transition to a new leadership.
The New Hampshire 2012 Republican debate was filled with question on social issues, foreign policy and the economy.
The very idea that a 30-story building could be built in 15 days -- or 360 hours -- is mind-boggling. But that's what happened in China, as a 30-story hotel went up in just 15 days.
The World Bank will recommend reforms to China's domestic financial system as part of broader proposals to help wean the country from a dependence on exports to sustain economic growth, World Bank President Robert Zoellick said on Saturday.
Bashir is regarded as a war criminal in the West and is wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) on charges he committed genocide in connection with the mass murder of people in the Darfur.
To find a precedent for the deep, lasting output cuts that aluminum producers must make to put a floor under prices, traders are looking a lot further back than the last recession.
China's total insurance premiums rose 10 percent to 1.43 trillion yuan ($226.64 billion) in 2011 from a year earlier, state media quoted the country's industry regulator as saying on Saturday.
The knives will come out at back-to-back debates this weekend as Republican presidential hopefuls frantically jockey for position days before New Hampshire's key primary.
U.S. President Barack Obama kicked off an effort to encourage businesses to keep jobs at home instead of outsourcing them overseas, as he rolled out a new election-year theme on Saturday aimed at courting middle-class voters.
