AFP - Asian stocks rose on Monday, with Tokyo hitting the highest level for almost two months as investors hoped that the US economy would start to recover this year after a dire 2008.

AFP - US President-elect Barack Obama will meet Monday with key congressional leaders to discuss a multi-billion-dollar economic stimulus plan Democrats hope to pass shortly after Obama takes office.

AFP - European and Japanese officials on Monday warned the global downturn would worsen despite hopes that US president-elect Barack Obama could galvanise the world's largest economy with a new stimulus plan.

AFP - The dollar gained against other major currencies Monday on growing expectations that US president-elect Barack Obama's stimulus plans will boost the ailing American economy, dealers said.

Bloomberg - Jan. 5 (Bloomberg) -- Federal Reserve officials, after taking the historic step of cutting the benchmark interest rate to as low as zero, are calling for greater government spending to help revive the U.S. economy.

AP - Chilean officials say the nation's economy expanded 0.1 percent in November, its slowest pace since October 2003.

Bloomberg - Jan. 5 (Bloomberg) -- Federal Reserve officials, after taking the historic step of cutting the benchmark interest rate to as low as zero, are calling for greater government spending to help revive the U.S. economy.

AFP - The Federal Reserve said Monday it began buying troubled mortgage securities through investment managers, kicking off a program expected to spend up to 500 billion dollars to ease a credit crisis.

AP - German Chancellor Angela Merkel's governing coalition on Monday started hammering out a multibillion-euro package to cushion Europe's biggest economy against a deepening recession, with leaders at odds over proposals for tax relief as they enter an election year.

AP - A senior official in Chancellor Angela Merkel's coalition says Germany's governing parties have agreed that a new economic stimulus package should be worth about euro50 billion ($70 billion) over two years.

Reuters - The worst financial crisis in more than a half century is going to get even worse, putting further pressure on U.S. home prices and driving the unemployment rate above 11 percent, according to two prominent academic economists.

Reuters - Walgreen Co's sales at drugstores open at least a year rose a better-than-expected 4.9 percent in December, as cash-strapped consumers continued to buy basics but shied away from holiday items.

AP - Interest rates on short-term Treasury bills, after hitting historic lows last month, rose in Monday's auction.

AP - German Chancellor Angela Merkel's governing coalition agreed Monday to give Europe's biggest economy an extra stimulus of up to euro50 billion ($70 billion) in an effort to cushion it against a deepening recession, senior officials said.

Reuters - Solar wafer maker LDK Solar Co Ltd warned on Monday of lower-than-expected fourth quarter and 2009 revenue, saying the global economic crisis and tight credit markets have weakened demand for solar power, sending its shares down nearly 14 percent.

AP - The government said Monday it had supplied another $15 billion to seven banks in the latest round of payments from the $700 billion rescue fund.

Reuters - Health insurer Cigna Corp said on Monday it will cut 1,100 jobs, or about 4 percent of its workforce, and consolidate certain operations as it copes with the economic downturn.

AP - Treasury announces $15 billion more released from rescue fund to seven banks.

AP - Construction spending fell less than expected in November as record activity on nonresidential projects helped offset another steep decline in housing. But the outlook remains bleak as credit is tight for builders trying to stay afloat amid a recession entering its second year.

AFP - President-elect Barack Obama Monday launched a hard sell for his near 800 billion dollar stimulus plan, warning the US economy would pay a dramatic price if the bill gets bogged down in Congress.

AP - Huge rebates and zero-percent loans couldn't overcome economic uncertainty as U.S. auto sales plunged 36 percent in December, capping a dismal year that saw sales free-fall by 2.9 million vehicles from 2007.

Reuters - Top economists at the Allied Social Sciences Association's annual meeting have been searching -- in some cases, in vain -- for signs of life in the U.S. housing market, a key element for busting the country out of a deep economic downturn.

AFP - US auto giant General Motors said Monday its sales growth in China slowed to 6.1 percent in 2008, less than a third of the rate seen the previous year as the economic slowdown affected demand.