Japan's Nikkei stock average climbed 2 percent, its biggest one-day gain in two weeks, as healthy risk appetite lifted shares around Asia and helped banking stocks rebound after a recent slide. High-tech glass maker Hoya Corp climbed after the Nikkei business daily said the company appeared to be targeting an operating profit of 50 billion

Asian stocks rose on Thursday as investors continued to switch into riskier assets amid growing confidence the global economy is recovering, keeping the dollar on the defensive. After hitting its weakest value in almost a year on Wednesday against a basket of currencies, the greenback was holding just above that level on Thursday, reflecting the

OPEC early on Thursday agreed to hold output targets steady after top exporter Saudi Arabia looked to economic strength to bolster the oil price and dismissed bulging inventories. As widely expected, the roughly three-hour meeting begun late on Wednesday saw no need to change production formally, although some OPEC members called for stricter compliance with

European stocks inched up and gold held near $1,000 an ounce on Wednesday, while the benchmark world equity index, oil and U.S. stock futures fell, reflecting investor reluctance to further pile on risky assets. The low-yielding dollar stayed near its 2009 low against the euro while U.S. Treasury prices steadied ahead of an auction of

Britain's top share index fell 0.3 percent in early trade on Wednesday, halting three straight days of gains, as strength in energy stocks was offset by losses in miners as investors saw profit taking opportunities. At 0819 GMT, the FTSE 100 was down 14.37 points at 4,932.97, after closing 14.16 points higher at 4,947.34 on

U.S. stock index futures pointed to a lower open on Wall Street on Wednesday, with futures for the S&P 500, the Dow Jones Industrial Average and Nasdaq 100 down 0.3-0.5 percent. At 4:55 a.m. EDT, the FTSEurofirst 300 index was down 0.3 percent at 975.24 points, snapping three days of gains, with banks and drugmakers

Palm Inc on Wednesday announced a lower-priced smartphone in the same family as its popular Palm Pre smartphone, although the move may be overshadowed by rival product launches by Motorola Inc and Apple Inc. Palm said it will start sales of the Pixi, a candy bar-shaped multimedia handset with a full keyboard, ahead of the