IBT Staff Reporter

World oil prices eased below $70 a barrel in Asian trade Monday as markets sentiment remained weaker after last weeks disappointed US jobs report. Light sweet crude for july delivery was seen trading at $69.71 a barrel at 11.00 a.m Singapore time while Brent crude for July was at $70.63 a barrel in London.

Gold prices recovered in Asian trade Monday as equity markets fell amid concerns over Hungary's debt problems. Gold for immediate delivery was seen trading at $ 1218.13 an ounce at 11.30 a.m Singapore time while U.S. gold futures for August delivery was at $1,219.8 at the same time.

The euro sank to four-year lows on Monday and stocks and commodities fell as increasing market volatility prompted investors to shed even more risky bets.

Exxon Mobil is holding detailed discussions with China's national oil firms on partnerships for a number of resources including unconventional, a top executive said on Monday.

Japan's Naoto Kan takes over as prime minister this week, faced with the challenge of fixing policy disarray and cutting a huge public debt that is constraining options for keeping economic recovery on track.

Bank of China's president no longer expects China to raise interest rates soon but instead may hike banks' required reserve rate, the China Securities Journal reported on Monday.

The Australian Dollar was sold off two US Cents towards 0.8200 overnight and has subsequently traded below 0.8200 following reports out of Europe regarding Europe's debt crisis, which may have spread to Hungary.

Some of UK insurer Prudential's largest shareholders have approached former chief executive Mark Tucker over a possible return to the helm of the company, British media reported on Monday.

The Australian Dollar opens the new week sharply lower at 0.8190.

Yahoo Inc is planning to introduce features that will give its users even more access to updates from the popular social networking site Facebook, expanding a partnership the web companies struck last year.

The global economy looks likely to avoid a relapse into recession, although the next six months may be anemic, with three main causes for concern.

U.S. stocks could face more pressure this week unless investors get some relief from worries about Europe, jobs and the toll they might take on the economic recovery.

Gold seems most likely to trade in a wide band this week, possibly as wide as $1,180 and $1,250. Gold's appeal as a safe haven and hedge against volatile economic conditions continues to be evident.

iPhone maker Foxconn has offered workers at its Shenzhen manufacturing hub in China a 66 percent performance-based pay rise as it tries to deal with the fallout from a spate suicides there.

Spain may make it easier for companies to bypass unions to lower workers' pay and conditions if they can prove they are in financial difficulty, El Mundo newspaper reported on Sunday, citing government sources.

UK insurer Prudential is not considering a renewed attempt to buy AIG's Asian life unit, a spokesman for the company said on Sunday, denying a media report that a fresh takeover proposal was in the works.

The chairman of the Eurogroup of euro zone finance ministers, Jean-Claude Juncker, dismissed concerns on Sunday that Hungary might face a Greek-style debt crisis and said the current level of the euro did not worry him.

Australian police have been asked to investigate internet giant Google over possible breaches of telecommunications privacy laws, the attorney general said on Sunday.

Australian police have been asked to investigate internet giant Google over possible breaches of telecommunications privacy laws, Attorney General Robert McClelland said on Sunday.

Bangladesh has lifted a ban on social networking site Facebook after it removed objectionable content about the Prophet Mohammad and the country's political leaders, the telecoms regulatory agency said on Sunday. Facebook was blocked last week after publication of caricatures of the Prophet that hurt the religious sentiments of the country's majority Muslim population.

UK insurer Prudential is not considering a renewed attempt to buy AIG's Asian life unit, a spokesman for the company said on Sunday, denying a media report that a fresh takeover proposal was in the works.

Google Inc said on Saturday it would hand over data it collected through wireless networks to French, German and Spanish authorities as it faces mounting legal issues concerning its data collection.

Hungary's government said on Saturday it aimed to meet this year's budget deficit target, seeking to draw a line under exaggerated talk of a possible Greek-style debt crisis that has unnerved global markets.

India-based leading commodity bourse, National Commodities and Derivatives Exchange (NCDEX) has achieved yet another milestone of having one of the most successful steel contract in the world. The exchange today maintained that the average daily traded volumes are in the range of 20, 000 MT vis-à-vis the last 4 years corresponding figure of 9,000 MT.

In a landmark development in India's oil & gas sector history, the empowered group of ministers is believed to deregulate fuel prices in the second week of June, 2010. In India retail fuel prices had been administered by the central government so as to keep the end consumers safe from the uncertainties of the global crude oil price fluctuations.

New York gold climbed overnight after equity markets dropped though the euro also tumbled to a four year low. Gold for August delivery added $7.70, or 0.6%, to $1,217.70 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The comeback assured gold a 0.3% gain on the shortened holiday week and stopped a downward trend that had started Wednesday.

Gold, platinum and other bullion metals grabbed the center-stage on the Tokyo Commodity Exchange Inc (TOCOM) during the month of May 2010 with staggering volume growth in the bullion commodities. Gold witnessed average daily volume of 66,354 contracts in May 2010 up by 33.9% from 49,545 contracts recorded in April 2010. Platinum contracts increased by 28.1% to 28,981 contracts during the month. The monthly trading volumes in gold and platinum remained at the top with gold monthly volumes at 1194...

China's currency policies were spared a specific mention in the Group of 20 communique on Saturday, but U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and the IMF kept up pressure for a stronger yuan.

Hungary's government said on Saturday it aimed to meet this year's budget deficit target, seeking to draw a line under exaggerated talk of a possible Greek-style debt crisis that unnerved global markets a day earlier.