Economy, Global Economy | featured news

The dollar has risen above 100 yen for the first time in more than four years as currency traders persist in selling the Japanese currency in reaction to Tokyo's aggressive credit-easing moves.

Britain skirted a "triple dip" recession by growing faster than expected in the first three months of the year, providing some cover for a government under fire over its austerity drive.

China's campaign to cut a huge backlog of initial public offerings has failed to deliver. Now there are signs that the authorities could be preparing to reopen the IPO floodgates.

The International Monetary Fund on Tuesday shaved projections for global economic growth for this year and next to take into account sharp government spending cuts in the United States and the latest struggles of recession-stricken Europe.

Sub-Saharan Africa's economic growth is set to outpace the global average over the next three years, according to the World Bank. Higher commodities, increasing investment and a general pick-up in the world economy should all boost the continent's growth to more than 5%.

Gold headed for its biggest two-day drop in 30 years on Monday as funds accelerated their exits from the market, and investors also cut exposure to oil, copper and grain after underwhelming Chinese growth data.

This year now looks unlikely to deliver much improvement in the world economy's growth rate, with a weaker outlook for Europe and the United States tempering the cautious optimism that was evident in January.

Gold hit a 10-month low and industrially focused precious metals extended a slump, as investors continued to favor other assets on hopes for a steadying global economy.

Japan is making a sweeping shift in its monetary policy, aiming to spur inflation and get the world's third-largest economy out of a long, debilitating slump. Bowing to demands from Prime Minister Shinzo Abe for more aggressive monetary easing, the Bank of Japan announced Thursday a policy overhaul intended to double the money supply and achieve a 2 percent inflation target at the "earliest possible time, with a time horizon of about two years."

Italian President Giorgio Napolitano expressed despair on Tuesday at fierce criticism of his latest plan to end a post-election deadlock that has raised fears of months of instability in the euro zone's third largest economy.