Gold futures rose further above the $1,700-an-ounce level in electronic trading Thursday, as a weakened U.S. dollar and the Federal Reserve’s projection of low interest rates until 2014 enhanced the precious metal’s allure.

Gold February futures, which rose $35.60 to end just above $1,700 an ounce on the Comex division of New York Mercantile Exchange overnight, added another $12.20, or 0.7%, to $1,712.30 an ounce during Asian trading hours

Source: MW

The International Monetary Fund Tuesday lowered its forecast for Canadian economic growth this year, predicting it will be dragged down by a cascading crisis in Europe and weakening conditions elsewhere.

In its latest economic outlook, the Washington-based monitor of global financial affairs predicted the Canadian economy will likely now grow by only 1.7 percent — three notches lower than the Bank of Canada’s estimate just last week — and two-tenths of a point lower than its own previous call in September.

And the IMF doesn’t see much improvement in 2013, forecasting 2 percent growth, again lower than the central bank’s prediction of 2.8 percent.

The IMF also predicted global growth of 3.25 percent, slower than the 4 percent pace it projected in September.

Source: CBC

Hedge fund Diamondback Capital Management LLC agreed to pay more than $9 million to settle with the Securities and Exchange Commission over insider-trading charges brought by the commission last week, according to the agency Monday.

The SEC said that as part of the settlement, Diamondback agreed to give up about $6 million of allegedly ill-gotten gains and pay a $3 million civil penalty.

Research in Motion Ltd., maker of the BlackBerry-line of smartphones, will undertake a board and management reshuffle that will see the firm’s co-chief executives give up the top job, the Wall Street Journal reports.

Jim Balsillie and Mike Lazaridis will relinquish their roles as joint chief executives to RIM operating chief Thorsten Heins, according to the report.

Balsillie and Lazaridis will continue as directors and shareholders.

U.S. stocks finished Friday near session highs, with the S&P 500 making a late about-face to end in the green, lifted by well-received results from Microsoft, IBM and Intel.

The major indexes rose 2% to nearly 3% for the week, the third straight week of gains.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended up 96.50 points, or 0.8%, at 12,720.48, led by a 5.7% rally in Microsoft and a 4.4% gain in IBM shares.

The S&P 500 ended up 0.9 point, or 0.1%, at 1,315.38. The Nasdaq Composite lost 1.63 points, or 0.1%, to 2,786.70.

The broader indexes were dragged by an 8.4% drop in Google shares.

The Federal Reserve Bank of New York sold $7.01 billion in face value of mortgage bonds it assumed in the rescue of American International Group Inc. (AIG) to Credit Suisse Group AG, the New York Fed said today.

The New York Fed sold the bonds through a “competitive process” after Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) made an unsolicited offer to buy a portion of the assets held by a vehicle called Maiden Lane II LLC, which held the bonds, according to a statement posted on the New York Fed’s website.

Apple’s value on the stock market briefly rose to $400 billion on Thursday, a record high for what was already the world’s most valuable technology company.

The company’s market cap slipped below the $400 billion mark by midday as Apple’s stock fell back from the all-time high of $431.37 it set earlier in the morning.

Still Apple’s market cap is higher than the gross domestic product of Greece, Austria, Argentina, or South Africa.

Sources: CNN, Reuters

The U.S. Treasury Department sold $15 billion in 10-year Treasury Inflation Protected Securities on Thursday at a yield of negative 0.046%.

Bidders offered to buy 2.91 times the amount of TIPS sold while indirect bidders, a group that includes global central banks, bought 36.3%. Direct bidders, a class that includes domestic money managers, purchased another 13.4%.

After the auction, the broader bond market remained unchanged. Yields on 10-year notes, which move inversely to prices, rose 8 basis points to 1.98%.