Economic News

LONDON (Reuters) - The top share index tumbled at the opening on Monday, extending a two-week rout and tracking losses in Asia, as lower metals prices knocked miners such as Kazakhmys (KAZ.L: Quote, Profile, Research) , but bid speculation boosted bank Alliance & Leicester (AL.L: Quote, Profile, Research) . By 8:26 a.m. British time, the FTSE 100 share index was 52.2 points, or 0.9 percent, lower at 5,605.2 points, having earlier dipped as low as 5,576.4 points -- its lowest since December 200 ...

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Gold fell more than $6 an ounce on Monday after the dollar rose, encouraging some investors to switch out of precious and base metals. Gold hit a high of $661.25 an ounce before falling to as low as $653 an ounce -- just above a three-week low of $651 hit on Friday. Spot gold was quoted at $654.30/655.10 an ounce by 0206 GMT, down from $659.20/660.00 late in New York. The  ...

BEIJING (Reuters) - China's central bank said in its annual report that it will try to rein in rapid credit growth and fine-tune policy by using a number of tools, including an adjustment to bank reserve requirements. The bank, in a reiteration of long-standing policy, also said it would continue to push reforms of its exchange rate regime and keep the yuan (CNY=CFXS: Quote, Profile, Research) b ...

Financial markets this week will continue to focus on the concerns that led to heightened turbulence through the past five trading sessions – heightened fears of inflation, rising interest rates and the weakening dollar. // The top priority will be to find clues on inflation and the likely direction of near-term interest rates. In the US, Friday’s release of personal income and consumption data gives the markets the Federal Reserve’s preferred measure of inflation. The core personal consumptio ...