Hopes that the crisis over Greek sovereign debt may have been contained lifted the euro on Monday and allowed European stocks to gain on the back of higher metal prices. Greece remained in focus with bond traders seeking to assess whether Athens can launch a syndicated bond sale, which markets are expecting as early as

U.S. stock index futures gained, pointing to a firmer start for Wall Street on Monday. Futures for the Dow Jones, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite were up 0.4 to 0.6 percent by 4.09 a.m. ET. The Commerce Department is set to release February personal income and consumption data at 8.30 a.m. Economists in

Britain's top share index gained 0.5 percent early on Monday as miners gained ground on firmer metal prices, and Vodafone bounced higher on renewed talk about the future of its U.S. tie-up. By 0823 GMT, the FTSE 100 was up 25.59 points at 5,728.61, after it closed 0.4 percent lower on Friday. Miners were the

It looks like some U.S. customers who preorder Apple Inc's new iPad tablet computer now may have to wait a bit longer to get the device, as the company appears to be having a hard time keeping up with demand. Apple began taking preorders for the iPad on March 12, promising to ship the touchscreen

The euro rallied further on Monday from 10-month lows, buoyed by a burst of short-covering as the quarter draws to an end, while Chinese shares hit two-month highs as investors bought large cap stocks like banks. The euro bounced to as high as $1.3530 in early trade, up 0.8 percent from Friday, as traders continued

Stocks rose on Friday after euro zone leaders agreed to create a safety net to help debt-burdened Greece, while data showed consumer sentiment rose slightly more than expected in March. Euro zone leaders unveiled a deal late Thursday in which Athens would receive coordinated bilateral loans from other countries that use the euro and the