BP said on Monday that it would seek to return to Libya to continue its exploration program "when conditions allow" as Libyan leader Moammer Gadhafi faces imminent defeat.

"We intend to resume our activities and return to the country when conditions allow," a BP spokesman told Agence France Presse.

Gold hit a record high near $1,900 an ounce in Monday trade as lingering fears of a fresh global recession caused dealers to snap up the precious metal regarded as a safe-haven investment.

Gold struck an all-time peak of $1,894.80 on the London Bullion Market, beating its high of $1,878.15 recorded last Friday.

Brent crude fell to near $105 a barrel Monday as Libyan rebels captured most of the country's capital, boosting hopes the OPEC nation's oil exports could resume soon.

In London, Brent crude for October delivery was down $3.22 per barrel to $105.40 on the ICE Futures exchange.

World stocks swung between gains and losses Monday, as hopes the Federal Reserve might take action to keep the U.S. from slipping back into recession offset fears of a global slowdown.

Brent crude fell to near $106 a barrel as Libyan rebels captured most of Tripoli, boosting hopes the OPEC nation's oil exports could resume soon. The dollar was stronger against the yen but weaker against the euro.

A debate over which eurozone countries can demand collateral from Greece in exchange for loan guarantees threatens to derail the quick approval of Athens' second bailout program, experts warn.

"Finland has said right from the beginning that it would not back any loans without collateral, and if this arrangement is no longer acceptable to other nations, then it takes us back to square one," Teija Tiilikainen, head of the Finnish Institute of International Affairs, told Agence France Presse.

Spurred on by state media which have let rip at the "debt-riddled" United States, the Chinese have listened with wide-eyed amazement to tales of American people living well beyond their means.

The U.S. credit crisis has brought to light a fundamental difference between thrifty consumers in China -- the largest foreign holder of U.S. debt -- and their credit-loving U.S. counterparts.

A soaring Swiss franc is a threat to Eastern European economies as households struggle to repay the now much costlier loans they took out in the currency in better times, analysts warn.

Eastern Europeans rushed to take out loans in Swiss francs and other foreign currencies in 2004-2005 as interest rates were much lower than what they would have had to pay on domestic borrowings -- now that has all changed.

President Barack Obama says members of Congress should put country before politics, set aside their differences and act together to put people back to work.

The president is vacationing on Martha's Vineyard in Massachusetts, but he recorded his weekly Saturday radio and Internet address earlier in the week while in Illinois during an economy-focused Midwestern bus tour.

A growing belief that the U.S. economy may be headed toward recession gave the stock market its fourth straight week of losses.

The anxiety in the market was obvious Friday as the major indexes went from moderate gains early in the day to another sharp loss. The Dow Jones industrial average had its 10th move of more than 100 points in 15 trading days this month.

Japan is ready to take action against a further surge in the yen, including market intervention, after the safe-haven Japanese currency hit a post-war record high, local media reported on Saturday.

The government and the Bank of Japan have started discussions over fresh intervention to sell yen and buy dollars on the foreign exchange market, the Nikkei business daily reported.