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• UPDATE 1-Brent steadies above $116 on economic outlook, Middle East

  SINGAPORE, Feb 4- Brent crude steadied above $116 per barrel on Monday, holding near a more than four-month high, as data from top consumers China and the United States reinforced a view that the global economy was headed for a modest uptick this year.

• PRECIOUS-Gold crawls up but economic recovery hopes limit gains

  *Spot gold neutral in $1,657.54- $1,681.70/ oz- technicals. Investors remain fairly optimistic in the U.S. recovery, which makes gold less attractive, even though recent data is rather a mixed bag, "said Chen Min, an analyst at Jinrui Futures in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen."

• Brent steadies above $116 on economy hopes, Middle East worries

  SINGAPORE, Feb 4- Brent crude steadied above $116 per barrel on Monday, holding near a more than four-month high, as data from top consumers United States and China reinforced a view that the global economy was headed for a modest uptick this year.

• This Week, Watch What Central Bankers Say, Not Do

  

  Central banking is in a state of flux as policymakers from Tokyo to Washington ditch prevailing orthodoxies to try to grab a bigger share of a slow-growing global economic pie.

• GLOBAL ECONOMY-Watch what central bankers say, not what they do

  LONDON, Feb 3- Central banking is in a state of flux as policymakers from Tokyo to Washington ditch prevailing orthodoxies to try to grab a bigger share of a slow-growing global economic pie.

• UPDATE 2-Brazil posts biggest trade deficit ever in January

  *January $4.0 bln trade deficit worse than expected. SAO PAULO, Feb 1- Brazil posted its worst monthly trade deficit on record in January due to a surge in imports of fuel and a slight drop in exports, trade ministry data showed on Friday.

• GLOBAL MARKETS-Stocks gain on factory and U.S. jobs data; euro jumps, yen slumps

  NEW YORK, Feb 1- Major world stockmarkets rose to their highest levels in nearly two years on Friday helped by manufacturing and employment data indicating the global economic recovery is on track.

• WRAPUP 1-Fed officials see brighter global economic outlook

  WASHINGTON/ NEW YORK, Feb 1- Two top Federal Reserve officials painted a picture of cautious optimism on Friday for the U.S. economy in 2013, helped by stronger global growth as the central bank aggressively prints money to curb the nation's lofty rate of unemployment. But New York Federal Reserve President William Dudley and St.

• GLOBAL MARKETS-Stocks rise on U.S. jobs data; dollar lower

  *U.S. and European stocks get a lift, MSCI world index higher. The MSCI world equity index was up 0.4 percent, having strengthened earlier on factory activity surveys for January in China and in the euro zone, which increased optimism over the global growth outlook. "

• CORRECTED-GLOBAL MARKETS-Stocks up on U.S. jobs data; U.S. dollar falls

  *U.S. and European stocks get a lift, MSCI world index higher. The MSCI world equity index was up 0.4 percent, having strengthened earlier on factory activity surveys for January in China and the euro zone, which increased optimism over the global growth outlook. "

• GLOBAL ECONOMY-US manufacturing surges, Chinese recovery more modest

  *China's official PMI eases to 50.4, HSBC reading at two-year high. NEW YORK/ LONDON, Feb 1- U.S. manufacturing growth quickened in January and hiring across the economy increased in late 2012, but Chinese factories only managed a slight rebound as the new year began, suggesting that world economic growth remains sluggish.

• Senator says hemp would help Kentucky economy

  The utilization of hemp to produce everything from clothing to paper is real and if there is a capacity to center a new domestic industry in Kentucky that will create jobs in these difficult economic times, that sounds like a good thing to me. "

• GLOBAL MARKETS-Dollar extends losses, shares up on U.S. jobs data

  *Dollar dips against euro to $1.3658. LONDON, Feb 1- World shares gained and the dollar extended its falls against the euro on Friday after data showed U.S. payrolls grew modestly in January and that gains in the previous two months were bigger than initially reported.

• European shares edge up as global growth outlook improves

  LONDON, Feb 1- European shares inched up on Friday, as upbeat factory data from the euro zone and China raised expectations for a gradual recovery in the global economy ahead of a major U.S. data release.

• GLOBAL ECONOMY-China factories see only modest pick-up, Europe stabilises

  LONDON/ BEIJING, Feb 1- China's vast factory sector managed only a shallow rebound at the start of 2013 and manufacturing in the euro zone remained weak, although there the worst may be over, a clutch of surveys suggested on Friday.

• UPDATE 3-Oil climbs towards $116 ahead of U.S. jobs data

  *Middle East tension stokes supply worries. LONDON, Feb 1- Brent crude oil rose towards $116 on Friday, heading for a sixth consecutive week of gains on rising economic optimism and tension across the Middle East, the world's biggest oil region.

• Yuan closes near 4-week low; China c.bank reacts to Asian currency war

  SHANGHAI, Feb 1- China's yuan closed near a four-week low on Friday after the central bank appeared to intervene to weaken the currency in response to declines in the yen and other Asian currencies.

• UK manufacturing grows modestly in Jan, output rises strongly -PMI

  LONDON, Feb 1- Britain's manufacturing sector expanded modestly in January as output grew at the fastest pace since September 2011, offering a small boost to an economy flirting with recession, a survey showed on Friday.

• REFILE-UPDATE 3-Indonesia Dec trade deficit narrows, but concerns linger

  JAKARTA, Feb 1- Indonesia's trade deficit narrowed in December, but exports fell much more than expected and some economists predict that 2012' s first annual deficit in history might not be the country's last.

• GLOBAL MARKETS-Euro gains but shares steady before economic data

  *China's official PMI slightly undershoots forecast. LONDON, Feb 1- The euro hit a fresh 14- month high on Friday as investors returned to the region's riskier asset markets, while shares steadied ahead of a batch of major U.S. and European economic data.