The European Central Bank left its benchmark interest rate unchanged at a record low of 1 percent for the 14th consecutive month on Thursday.

The U.S. economy is strong enough even given the possibility of tightening the current fiscal policy, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke said on Wednesday.

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke is hopeful the economy will not fall back into a “double dip” recession. “My best guess is we will have a continued recovery, but it won’t feel terrific,” Bernanke said.

It seems that China along with Africa and other emerging economies are having currently the greatest effect of the world’s total economic growth. Which led the International Monetary Fund to declare that it will raise its forecast for global growth.

Ben Bernanke said yesterday that the economy appears to be on its way to a recovery from the 2008 financial crisis all thanks to the Fed’s economic recovery programs and stimulus.

Despite the economic growth and improvements that are seen in the releases of the U.S. Official data for weeks, the Federal Reserve is still expected to be holding interest rates near zero for an extended period.

The rising demand for the Chinese goods all over the world raised economists expectations that China’s GDP growth could be over 10% this year. It seems that China’s has concerns about the increasing inflation and more boosts in the manufacturing sector would expose its economy to the threat of soaring prices.

U.S. economic growth probably increased at the fastest pace in nearly four years over the final three months of 2009, but it’s not yet time to break out the champagne, economists said. The Commerce Department will release its first look at fourth-quarter gross domestic product at 8:30 a.m. Eastern.

The dollar weakened against 13 of the 16 most traded currencies as investor aversion to risk eased amid expectations of steady global economic growth.

Gold hit another record high on Monday, doing a great job as a hedge against inflation and sluggish economic growth, while oil price rose on a weaker dollar and supply concerns. December contract saw a fresh high above $1,167 an ounce, which insures that the precious metal is extending its winning streak into a seventh session. .