UNITED STATES

Asian stocks fell to three-month lows on Monday with investors cautious after new data strengthened the case for tighter Chinese monetary policy and as attention focused on key U.S. economic reports due this week.

Shares in UBS fell on Monday after the Swiss justice minister said the economy would suffer if the Swiss bank collapsed as a result of its unresolved U.S. tax dispute.

The new president of Japan Airlines Corp said the bankrupt carrier has not yet decided whether to stick with partner American Airlines or defect to Delta Air Lines and its SkyTeam group.

President Barack Obama will seek on Monday to strike a balance between taming skyrocketing U.S. budget deficits and giving the economy a boost to ease the pain of double-digit unemployment.

The dollar held at its highest levels in six months on Monday, while the euro huddled near seven-month lows on fiscal concerns, and higher yielding currencies remained pressured by the closing of leveraged trades. The Australian dollar hovered at its weakest since mid-December as investors briefly unwound yen-funded carry trades on a report that a UK regulator would like to restrain carry trading generally.

Global oil prices remained below $73 a barrel in Asian trade Monday mainly on concerns about dipping energy demand. Light sweet crude for delivery in March delivery was seen trading at $72.79 a barrel at11.00 a.m Singapore time while Brent crude was at $71.44 a barrel at the same time.

Gold remained below $1079 an ounce in Asian trade Monday as the dollar continued its rally against major currencies. Spot gold was seen trading at $1,078.67 an ounce at 11.00 a.m Singapore time while US gold futures for April delivery inched down 0.4 per cent to $1079.30 an ounce at the same time.

The United States has escaped the danger of a Japanese-style deflationary trap, but it is not yet time to start tightening policy, St. Louis Federal Reserve Bank President James Bullard told the Financial Times.

Gold prices retreated to hover near $1,080 on Monday after posting a third straight week of declines as investors remained wary of gains in the dollar which weaken bullion's appeal as a currency hedge. A U.S. proposal to limit bank risks continued to weigh on investor sentiment.

Morgan Stanley plans to hire several hundred traders over the next few years to boost its underperforming securities business, new boss James Gorman said in an interview with the Financial Times.

International Monetary Fund Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn on Sunday urged the United States, Britain and other countries to cooperate on new policies and regulations in the wake of the financial crisis.

The Australian Dollar (0.8790) begins the new week under pressure and is at a six-week low.

The adage as January goes, so goes the year bodes ill for equity investors after the S&P 500 closed out its worst month in almost a year. This week, they will have to contend with fears of sovereign defaults and potential unpleasantness in the U.S. labor market as well.

The economic recovery is suddenly looking more robust. If it is going to stay that way, the labor market will need to catch up soon.

New York's famed Bloomingdale's department store opened its doors in the Middle East's biggest mall on Sunday in its first foray outside its home market.

The U.S. taxpayer-funded rescue program set up to save banks from collapse during the financial crisis makes future reckless behavior more likely, the government's bailout watchdog said in a quarterly report.

U.S. safety regulators are satisfied with a Toyota Motor Corp. plan for fixing an accelerator problem that is part of a widening global recall and unprecedented sales and production halt, a government official said on Saturday.

Indian wheat products are finding no takers in the global market because of the high domestic prices, which has even prompted the Prime Minister to call a meeting of the state chief ministers to discuss ways to bring down prices. Food inflation reared up again, with the annual wholesale price index-based inflation in primary food products inching up to 17.40 per cent for the week ended January 16 against the previous week's annual rise of 16.81 per cent. Inflation in items such as potatoes rose ...

President Barack Obama will propose making a popular stimulus bond program permanent and expanding its use in the budget plan he presents on Monday, a U.S. Treasury Department official said on Saturday.

President Barack Obama renewed his pledge on Saturday to make job creation his top priority in 2010 but said it was also critical to rein in a record budget deficit that threatened an economic recovery.

China threatened to impose sanctions on U.S. arms firms and cut cooperation with Washington unless it cancels a $6.4 billion arms sale to Taiwan, in an unprecedented move signaling Beijing's growing global power.