AFP - Foreign purchases of US long-term securities surged in June, reversing an outflow the previous month and signaling recovery of battered financial markets, new data showed Monday.

AFP - Global stock markets were sharply lower on Monday as investors took profits on recent gains despite Japan's rebound from recession and positive US data, dealers said.

Reuters - U.S. homebuilder sentiment in August rose to its highest level in over a year, a private survey showed on Monday, adding to mounting evidence that the housing market and economic recession were leveling out.

AFP - A majority of Americans believe that a 787-billion-dollar stimulus package passed six months ago with support from President Barack Obama has had no effect or even made the US economy worse.

AFP - A key US manufacturing survey in New York state turned positive Monday for the first time in more than a year in August, surging more than expected in a freash sign of recovery from recession.

AFP - US authorities extended Monday a key credit program to 2010 to help ailing businesses, households and the embattled real estate sector as the country recovers from recession.

Reuters - Japan's economy returned to growth in the second quarter, pulling out of its longest recession since World War Two, but analysts warned of a rocky road ahead as the nascent recovery was based on short-term stimulus efforts around the world.

AP - Oil prices fell below $66 a barrel Monday as investors worried that crude demand will recover only slowly in the U.S. and brushed off upbeat economic growth data from Japan.

AP - Japan's economy climbed out of yearlong recession in the second quarter, the government said Monday, expanding 3.7 percent at an annual pace and joining Germany, France and other regions that appear to be emerging from the global financial crisis.

Reuters - North Korea said on Monday it would reopen its border with the South, ending a self-imposed 9-month blockade on a vital source of cash for its leaders as their ravaged economy is squeezed by tightening U.N. sanctions.

Reuters - U.S. stocks could extend last week's retreat after a four-week advance as the earnings season winds down and investors search for signs that consumer spending will help sustain an economic recovery.