LIBYA

President Barack Obama said the U.S. and its NATO allies are weighing wide range of potential options (including military intervention) to pressure Libyan leader Moammar Gaddafi from committing any further acts of unacceptable against the opposition rebels.

Wall Street bank Morgan Stanley has stopped trading oil with Libya, a trade source said on Monday, in an early indication that U.S. sanctions could further hit exports from the north African producer.

The United Nations said it will be sending a team of specialists to assess the humanitarian crisis in Libya, as thousands of foreigners remain trapped in the country and fighting intensifies between forces opposed to and loyal to Moammar Gaddafi.

Isolated spikes of Internet activity showed up in Libya over the weekend, according to Google's Transparency Report, but it is intermittent and Libya is still largely cut off from the rest of the world.

The Federal Reserve's $600 billion bond purchase program will be completed as planned, top Fed officials signaled on Monday, though they saw heightened economic uncertainty from unrest in the Middle East.

Technology shares led U.S. stocks lower after a downgrade of semiconductors on Monday, helping push the sector below a key technical level, which could mean further losses.

Brent crude prices turned lower after pushing back above $118 a barrel on Monday, and U.S. oil pared gains after concerns about Libya's conflict and the threat of wider supply disruptions in the Middle East lifted it to the highest level since September 2008.

Libya leader Muammar Gaddafi has told the opposition government that he’s willing to give up power and leave the country if the safety of him and his family is guaranteed.

U.S. stocks turned lower on Monday, led by declines from technology and consumer-discretionary companies as oil prices remained near $105-a-barrel amid ongoing political tensions in Libya

Usher is the latest celebrity to say that he will return the money he was paid for performing at a Gadaffi family party in St. Barts.

Brent crude prices rose above $118 a barrel and U.S. prices pushed to their highest level since September 2008 on Monday, before paring gains in volatile trading, lifted by Libya's conflict and the threat of wider supply disruptions in the Middle East.

Stocks fell on Monday, weighed down by a downgrade of the semiconductor sector and worries about the effect of higher oil prices on the economy, which is unlikely to change soon.

Central banks worldwide are unified in seeking to anchor expectations for future inflation, but that does not mean they will all go about it in the same way, policymakers said Monday.

Brent crude rose as high as $118.50 a barrel and U.S. oil hit its highest level since September 2008 on Monday on concern over wider supply disruptions in the Middle East before both markets pared gains.

The Gold Price rose new all-time highs vs. a falling US Dollar on Monday morning in London, hitting almost $1445 per ounce as European stock markets held flat and major-economy government bonds slipped, nudging interest rates up.

Gold climbed to a record high above $1,440 an ounce on Monday as the threat of violence spreading in the Middle East and North Africa pushed oil prices to 2-1/2 year highs and burnished the metal's safe-haven appeal.

Stocks edged higher on Monday as a flurry of acquisition activity boosted optimism about share prices and oil prices eased from earlier highs sparked by tensions in the Middle East.

About 1,000 illegal migrants fleeing unrest in North Africa have landed on the Italian island of Lampedusa overnight in a dozen or so boats, intensifying fears that a massive influx of people from Tunisia, Libya and other places will soon reach Europe’s shores.

The Federal Reserve cannot rule out expanding its $600 billion stimulus as political upheaval in the Middle East and North Africa heighten U.S. economic uncertainty, a top Fed official said on Monday.

Stock index futures rose on Monday, indicating Wall Street will recover from Friday's losses even as oil prices continued to spike on unrest in the Middle East and North Africa.

Fears of a civil war and a looming humanitarian crisis grew in Libya as forces loyal to Muammar Gaddafi escalated attacks on rebel-held cities in a bid to recapture control, causing dozens of deaths and mass exodus of people.