INVESTMENT

Robert W. Baird forecasts inflation to upswing during the course of 2011, while inflation overall is expected to remain rather benign by historical standards. The brokerage said food and gasoline are among the items poised to see upward price pressure this year.

The number of victims of identity theft dropped by more than a quarter in the U.S. last year, the largest annual fall on record, but individual victims lost more money on average than ever before.

Canadian regulators are proposing new guidelines to govern how investment dealers advertise and communicate with clients on popular social media such as Facebook, Twitter and blogs.

Gold rose more than 1 percent on Tuesday to $1,367.60 an ounce as traders covering short positions in the New York futures market pushed spot prices through key resistance at the metal's 100-day moving average.

High international commodities prices and a weakening shilling against the dollar are expected to cushion Kenyan listed agricultural stocks from inflationary pressures and the effects of a biting drought, analysts said.

Kenya's Centum Investment Co is poised to tap the booming property market in east Africa to meet the growing demand of the bulging middle class, its chief executive officer said on Tuesday.

Mauritian holding company Ireland Blyth said it still expected improved full-year results, when posting a 68 percent fall in first-half pretax profit on Tuesday.

The top pre-market NASDAQ stock market gainers are: Conexant Systems, Herley Industries, Exide Technologies, Vical, and Motricity. The top pre-market NASDAQ stock market losers are: ADDvantage Technologies Group, PennantPark Investment, Breitburn Energy Partners, Allot Communications, and Glu Mobile.

Newmont Mining Corporation (NEM.N) expects to more than double its African gold production to 1.2 million ounces by 2015, driven by its projects in Ghana, a senior executive said on Tuesday.

Gold inched higher on Tuesday as equities fell, the euro picked up and flows of metal out of exchange-traded funds stabilized, although a rise in Chinese benchmark rates limited gains.

The top after-market NASDAQ stock market gainers are: Exide Technologies, Herley Industries, Conexant Systems, CSP, and WSB Holdings. The top after-market NASDAQ stock market losers are: Glu Mobile, SunPower, Breitburn Energy Partners, PennantPark Investment, and Kratos Defense & Security Solutions.

British gas producer BG Group Plc posted a rise in quarterly profit helped by higher commodity prices and a lower exploration charge and the company lifted its full year dividend by 10 percent to 21.60 cents a share.

Gold prices inched up on Monday, underpinned by inflation concerns, but a more optimistic economic outlook and worries about interest rate hikes kept bullion from rising further.

Republican Governor Rick Scott, who was just elected last November in a very close race, unveiled a budget that envisions $5 billion in spending cuts and almost 9,000 jobs slashed from the public sector.

Speaking at the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation event in Washington, F.C.C. Chairman Julius Genachowski said the U.S. needs to take action on its broadband problem.

U.S. government-owned rail operator Amtrak said plans to construct a railway tunnel that will link New York City and New Jersey at a cost of $13.5-billion.

Allen & Overy (A&O) plans to open an operational support and legal services center in Belfast, the capital city of Northern Ireland, and employ 300 people by 2014 to run it.

Gold held near $1,350 an ounce on Monday after the metal's first weekly rise this year supported investor confidence in the metal, though a more optimistic view of the global economic outlook is continuing to weigh on prices.

Investments to create new jobs in clean energies risk backfiring by curbing employment in other parts of the economy, a study commissioned by Danish Skeptical Environmentalist Bjorn Lomborg said on Monday.

The Egyptian pound fell on Sunday when trade resumed after a week-long suspension due to political unrest, but the drop was less sharp than many traders had feared as the central bank appeared to support the currency.

Egypt's Banks opened for the first time in a week to queues of customers seeking to access their accounts on Sunday, but the Egyptian pound weakened only modestly after violent protests gave way to calmer political talks.