The world’s richest people 2015-By Kerry A. Dolan and Luisa Kroll

Berkshire Hathaway Chairman and CEO Warren Buffett, right, gestures towards Microsoft co-founder and Berkshire board member Bill Gates, during an interview with Liz Claman on the Fox Business Network in Omaha, Neb., Monday, May 5, 2014. The annual Berkshire Hathaway shareholders meeting concluded the previous weekend. (AP Photo/Nati Harnik)

Despite plunging oil prices and a weakened euro, the ranks of the world’s richest defied global economic turmoil and expanded yet again. Forbes found a record 1,826 billionaires with an aggregate net worth of $7.05 trillion, up from $6.4 trillion a year ago. The total includes 290 new billionaires and a record 197 women, up from 172 last year.

Bill Gates is once again the richest person on the planet, a title he's held for 16 of the past 21 years. His fortune grew $3.2 billion since last year to $79.2 billion, in spite a gift of $1.5 billion in Microsoft shares to The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in November 2014. Carlos Slim Helú of Mexico comes in again at No. 2 while revered American investor Warren Buffett took back the No. 3 spot from Spain’s Amancio Ortega (now No. 4); Buffett was the list’s biggest gainer, up $14.5 billion to $72.7 billion, thanks to Berkshire Hathaway’s rising share price. Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg moves up 5 spots to number 16, his first time ranked among the world’s 20 richest.

At age 30 Zuckerberg is also the leader in a youth revolution that has minted a growing number of billionaires under the age of 40. The youngest billionaire in the world is Evan Spiegel, 24, co-founder of photo-messaging app Snapchat.  Silicon Valley tech companies have spawned other young new billionaires including cofounders of car-hailing service Uber, Travis Kalanick and Garrett Camp, and their first employee Ryan Graves. Elizabeth Holmes, who runs blood- testing firm Theranos, debuts on the global list as the youngest self-made woman at age 31.
Gainers outnumbered losers: 819 billionaires are richer than a year ago while 519 are poorer. The year’s biggest loser in dollar terms is Aliko Dangote of Nigeria, whose fortune dropped to $14.7 billion from $25 billion last year, propelled downward by a weaker Nigerian currency and shrinking demand for cement, his largest asset. He still retains the title of Africa’s richest man. America’s biggest loser was casino mogul Sheldon Adelson, who fell out of the Top Ten to No. 18 amid a drop in the price of Las Vegas Sands shares.

One hundred thirty eight people from the 2014 list dropped out of the ranks, including fashion designer Michael Kors, Zulily’s Mark Vadon and many Russians. The number of ten-figure fortunes in Russia plunged to 88 from 111 last year due to the weak ruble and lower oil prices. Guatemala has a billionaire for the first time, and Iceland returns to the club after a seven-year absence, the result of a comeback by Thor Bjorgolfsson, who’s still the only billionaire in the country’s history.

There’s no doubt that entrepreneurship is thriving globally. Fully 1,187 members of the list are self-made billionaires, while just 230 inherited their wealth. Another 403 inherited at least a portion but are still working to increase their fortunes.

Our estimates show a snapshot of wealth on Feb. 13, when we locked in stock prices and exchange rates from around the world. If a stock market wasn’t open on that day, we used the stock price from the previous trading day.

Bill GatesRank: #1
Net Worth: $79.2 billion (+ $3.2 billion vs 2014)
Citizenship: Untied States

.

REUTERS/Edgar Su

Bill Gates is once again the richest person on the planet, a title he's held for 16 out of the last 21 years. He recaptured the top spot in March 2014 after a four-year run by Mexico's Carlos Slim Helu as No. 1. Early on, the stellar performance of Microsoft, which he cofounded in 1975, boosted his net worth, but he's been steadily selling his shares in the software company for at least 15 years. He unloaded one third of his remaining stake over the 12 months through February 2015. That included a gift of shares worth $1.5 billion to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in November 2014, which brought his lifetime giving up to $30.7 billion. Gates, who spends most of his time focused on philanthropy, laid out some decisive goals for the foundation in his annual January letter. While continuing to work on improving U.S. education and global health, the foundation is also committed to getting Africa to feed itself and wants to help spread mobile banking, which it believes can help transform the lives of the poor.

Carlos Slim Helu & family
Rank: 2
Net worth: $77.1 billion (+$5.1 b vs. 2014)
Citizenship: Mexico

.

AP Photo/Jeremy Piper

Carlos Slim Helu remains the world's number two richest person despite changes in the Mexican telecom landscape, where he has prospered greatly over the past two decades. A new anti-monopoly law is driving some of the shifts In June 2014, he spent $5.6 billion to buy out AT&T's 8.3% stake in pan-Latin American wireless carrier America Movil -- by far Slim's most valuable asset. He and his children own a majority of the company. AT&T then became an America Movil competitor in Mexico, when it purchased wireless carrier Grupo Iusacell from Mexican billionaire Ricardo Salinas Pliego in January 2015. Outside of telecom, Slim took private his listed real estate company, Innmeubles Carso, paying minority shareholders $450 million in December 2014. A month later, he became the largest shareholder of The New York Times, with a nearly 17% stake, by exercising warrants to buy more shares. Slim also holds a controlling interest in industrial conglomerate Grupo Carso, financial venture Grupo Financiero Inbursa and infrastructure development and operating company Ideal.

Warren Buffett
Rank: 3
Net worth: $72.7 billion ( +$14.5 billion vs. 2014)
Citizenship: United States

.

REUTERS/Carlos Barria

Warren Buffett is wealthier than ever thanks to the stellar performance of his diversified holding company, Berkshire Hathaway. Its coveted Class A stock, which is the most expensive of any public U.S. company's, eclipsed $200,000 per share for the first time in August 2014. Buffett moved to No. 3 on FORBES' 2015 list of the world's richest, up from the fourth position in 2014. With dozens of subsidiaries, including in railroads, insurance and energy, Berkshire Hathaway posted $182 billion in 2013 revenue and $19.5 billion in net income. Still inking big deals,  Berkshire Hathaway bought battery maker Duracell from Procter & Gamble in November 2014 for $4.7 billion. A generous philanthropist, Buffett bested his own giving record in July 2014, giving away Berkshire shares worth $2.8 billion, primarily to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation but also to his children's foundations, bringing his lifetime giving to nearly $23 billion. Buffett says his best investment ever was buying Benjamin Graham's book The Intelligent Investor in 1949. He later studied under Graham before moving home to Nebraska and acquiring a struggling textiles company in 1962, Berkshire Hathaway. In early February 2015, it was the fourth most valuable public company in the U.S., with a market capitalization of $355 billion.

Amancio Ortega
Rank: 4
Net worth: $64.5 billion (+$500 million vs. 2014)
Citizenship: Spain

.

Getty Images/Didier Baverel

Spaniard Amancio Ortega grew up the son of a railway worker and is now the world's richest retailer. He cofounded Zara in 1975 with lingerie and bathrobes he and his former wife Rosalia Mera made in their living room. By the mid-1980s, he had taken Zara all over Spain and was ready to expand overseas. As his empire grew, Ortega caught the retail establishment by surprise, limiting advertising, expanding aggressively and controlling much of his own supply chain. Louis Vuitton fashion director Daniel Piette once called Inditex "possibly the most innovative and devastating retailer in the world."  Ortega powered through the Spanish financial crisis, personally gaining $45 billion from 2009 to 2014 as his shares of Inditex defied the rest of the Spanish stock market. In the last decade he has taken billions in Inditex dividends and reinvested the money into real estate in marquee cities, including Madrid, Barcelona, London, Chicago, Miami and New York.

Larry Ellison
Rank: 5
Net worth: $54.3 billion (+$6.3 billion vs. 2014)
Citizenship: United States

Kimberly White/Getty Images

Larry Ellison is arguably the first Silicon Valley tech entrepreneur to live large and fast. He never met his biological father and was raised in a middle-class Chicago home by his great aunt. After building databases for the CIA, Ellison founded database software firm Oracle in 1977 and has overseen its tremendous growth--revenues in fiscal 2014 grew to $38.3 billion. In September 2014, Ellison shocked the business world by announcing plans to step down as CEO; he is staying on as Oracle's chairman and chief technology officer. A sailing fanatic, he's the main backer of America's Cup winner Oracle Team USA. Ellison has continued to gobble up properties on the Hawaiian island of Lanai, which he bought for a reported $300 million in 2012, and is said to own every hotel room on the island.  His daughter Megan Ellison has found success as a film producer; her Annapurna Pictures produced hits like Zero Dark Thirty and American Hustle.

Charles Koch
Rank: 6
Net worth: $42.9 billion (+$2.9 billion vs 2014)
Citizenship: Unites States

.

AP Photo/The Wichita Eagle, Bo Rader

Charles and David Koch's spheres of influence span business, philanthropy and politics. The lightning-rod capitalist brothers continue to add to their empire, plunking down more than $5 billion on acquisitions in 2014. Charles has been chair of Koch Industries since 1967, overseeing massive growth of what is now the second-biggest private company in America, behind commodities giant Cargill. Their reach extends from oil pipelines, refineries and manufacturers of building materials to paper towels and even Dixie Cups. They were relative pikers in the 2014 midterm elections, spending about $2.5 million each on Republican races, but the Washington Post reported that they have exhorted their conservative compatriots to raise almost $1 billion for the 2016 presidential election. The Kochs are also active philanthropists. In mid-2014, a $25 million gift from Koch Industries and the Charles Koch Foundation to the United Negro College Fund sparked discussion across the political spectrum.

David Koch
Rank: 6
Net worth: $42.9 billion (+$2.9 billion vs 2014)
Citizenship: United States

AP Photo/The Wichita Eagle, Travis Heying

New York City's richest resident David Koch shares control of $115 billion (sales) Koch Industries with his older brother Charles. America's second largest private company, Koch Industries has interests in oil pipelines, refineries, building materials, paper towels and Dixie cups, and made more than $5 billion in acquisitions in 2014 including  inkmaker Flint Group for a reported $3 billion and PetroLogistics for $2.1 billion. The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York dedicated the David H. Koch Plaza in September 2014, part of a $65 million renovation he funded. Koch Industries poured more than $3 million into the 2014 midterm elections. Audio recordings leaked from not-so-secret Koch-organized meetings in June 2014 revealed Republicans including Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) laying out their strategy for thwarting Obama's legislative agenda if the Republicans gained control of the Senate in 2014, which did indeed happen. The Kochs are also active philanthropists. In mid-2014, a $25 million gift from Koch Industries and the Charles Koch Foundation to the United Negro College Fund sparked discussion on the left and right.

Christy Walton & family
Rank: 8
Net worth: $41.7 billion (+$5 billion vs. 2014)
Citizenship: United States

.

Getty Images

Christy Walton is the wealthiest woman the world, a title she has held for five out of the past six years. She married into what became the richest family in the world--the Waltons--and inherited her wealth when her husband John Walton, a former Green Beret and Vietnam war medic, died in an airplane crash in 2005. She is the wealthiest of the Waltons thanks to an investment John made in solar-panel maker First Solar. The bulk of her holdings are in Wal-Mart, the huge retailer founded by her father-in-law Sam Walton and his brother James in 1962. Christy received $470 million in Wal-Mart dividends after taxes in 2014. She leads a very private life in Jackson, Wyoming, but in 2013 had a rare bit of publicity when she was given an award by the Imagen Foundation for producing the film Bless Me, Ultima, based on the book by Rudolfo Anaya, who is considered the father of Chicano literature. Her son successfully battled cancer when he was just 3 years old and she herself fought a case of pneumonia that nearly killed her, according to the Imagen Foundation.

Jim Walton
Rank: 9
Net worth: $40.6 billion (+$5.9 billion vs. 2014)
Citizenship: United States

Jim Walton and Alice Walton (AP Photo/April L. Brown)

Jim Walton, a board member of Wal-Mart, is the youngest child of the superstore's legendary founder Sam Walton. The company generated $473 billion in 2014 revenues from with more than 11,000 stores in 27 countries. In February 2015, Wal-Mart announced it would raise its wages in the U.S. to at least $9 an hour in 2015 and at least $10 an hour in 2016. Labor advocates had called for a jump to $15 an hour. Outside of Wal-Mart, Jim Walton is chairman and CEO of the family-founded Arvest Bank, which has branches in Arkansas, Kansas, Oklahoma and Missouri. The bank has assets of nearly $15 billion and had net profits of nearly $130 million in 2013.

Liliane Bettencourt & family
Rank: 10
Net worth: $40.1 billion (+$5.6 billion vs 2014)
Citizenship: France

.

REUTERS/Benoit Tessier

L'Oreal grand dame Liliane Bettencourt grew even richer in 2014 thanks to a deal in which she purchased an additional 8% stake in the cosmetics empire from Nestlé, raising her and her family's chunk of L'Oreal stock to 33%. Her father, Eugene Schueller, founded L'Oreal in 1907. Bettencourt has not been involved in running the company for several years; a legal battle with her daughter Françoise Bettencourt Meyers ended in 2011 with Liliane declared unfit to manage her affairs. The elderly widow, who suffers from dementia, was replaced on the company's board by her 25-year-old grandson Jean-Victor Meyers in 2012. A trial of ten people who allegedly stole hundreds of millions of euros from Bettencourt began in January 2015. She remains the richest woman in Europe.

See the full list: The World’s Billionaires 2015

Culled from Forbes in Yahoo Finance

Protect yourself from tax identity theft-By Laura Saunders

Here’s how to limit your risk of tax refund fraud—and the steps to take if you’re a victim

.

View photo

Thinkstock

Robert Scott Jack took precautions most people never dream of to prevent tax identity theft.

Mr. Jack, a retired federal cybersecurity expert in Alexandria, Va., who now works as a consultant, shunned online tax-preparation programs that store data on the Internet. He researched the security features of different software programs and opted for a packaged—not downloaded—product. He checked the package for signs of tampering before loading it into his secure home computer.
Yet soon after he tried to electronically file his federal tax return through TurboTax on Feb. 14, the company told him it been rejected because someone already had filed using his Social Security number.
“I was disappointed and frustrated,” Mr. Jack says. He knew that “sweeping up the broken glass” would take three days of scrambling to lock down financial accounts, plus many more months of waiting for resolution.
Plenty of other taxpayers are feeling the same frustration.
In early February, a surge of fraudulent state tax returns forced Intuit, the maker of TurboTax—by far the most popular tax-prep program—to suspend state e-filings for 24 hours.
Several states, including Utah, Kentucky, North Dakota and Minnesota, suspended processing returns for a few days. State officials were alarmed because many of the false filings included data apparently drawn from taxpayers’ 2013 tax returns.
Since then there have been many reports of fraudulent federal returns linked to TurboTax that also apparently used 2013 information.
Both the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Internal Revenue Service’s criminal division are probing the issues at TurboTax, according to a person familiar with the matter, and Congress is looking into them as well. A spokeswoman for Intuit says the company isn’t the target of an FBI investigation, and Chief Executive Brad Smith says that the company hasn’t had a data breach.

Much remains unclear about this year’s rash of fraudulent filings—especially how they compare in size or success to others, or whether they affected a disproportionate number of TurboTax users.

While the IRS publishes little data on tax identity theft, information released by others points to a serious issue. According to Government Accountability Office reports, the IRS lost an estimated $5.8 billion to fraudulent refund claims in 2013, the most recent data available, while blocking about $24 billion in attempts. In 2013 there were almost 2 million suspected tax identity theft incidents, compared with about 440,000 in 2010, according to the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration.

Curbing this type of theft may require multiple efforts by businesses, the IRS and Congress, says Neal O’Farrell, a cybersecurity specialist at the Identity Theft Council, a nonprofit advocacy group in Walnut Creek, Calif. But there are steps people can take to help prevent tax identity theft—and to cope after it happens.

Ask for an IP PIN. The IRS issues victims of tax identity theft a six-digit Identity Protection PIN for use in filing returns once cases have been resolved. Returns can’t be filed without the number, and the taxpayer receives a new one every year.
But you don’t have to be a victim to obtain such a PIN. Starting this year, an IRS pilot program is giving PINs to people who filed federal returns as residents of Georgia, Florida and the District of Columbia last year. (These are the areas with the highest percentage rate of tax identity theft.) To get one, apply at www.irs.gov.
The IRS also recently sent letters offering PINs to about 1.7 million people who were selected because the agency had seen suspicious activity in their accounts.
In addition, people who are potential victims of identity theft—be it from a stolen purse or a data breach—can notify the IRS by filing Form 14039, “Identity Theft Affidavit,” and checking Box 2. The IRS may or may not grant a PIN, but filing the form could qualify taxpayers for other heightened security measures, according to an IRS spokeswoman.
Andy Mattson, a certified public accountant at Moss Adams in Campbell, Calif., hasn’t been a victim of identity theft. But he received a PIN from the IRS after a 2012 data breach of South Carolina’s tax system exposed the information of 3.8 million individuals, including his—because he prepares corporate tax returns filed there.
Mr. Mattson urges everyone who is at risk to file Form 14039. “It only takes a few minutes and could save many hours of your time or a professional’s,” he says.
Shun email links and attachments. Realistic-looking emails can harbor malware that could steal your information—a practice known as phishing. The massive South Carolina data breach, for example, occurred after state tax employees opened links in phishing emails, according to an official report.
Experts say it’s unfortunate that many legitimate offers from financial firms come with embedded links. “Marketers are looking for reactions they can measure, but as a result consumers become less cautious and fall prey to malicious emails that seem real,” says Mr. O’Farrell, who also advises consumer-credit firm Credit Sesame. Instead of clicking a link, he says, enter through the company’s website.
The IRS reminds taxpayers that it never initiates contact by email, text messages or social media.
Stay proactive. As of now, there is no way to find out if someone has already filed a tax return using your Social Security number until you send in your own. Filing early can beat thieves to the punch, but taxpayers with investments or complex returns often must wait for paperwork to arrive.
Meanwhile, practice cyber-hygiene—especially in the wake of data breaches such as the massive one at health insurer Anthem, which may have exposed the sensitive personal information of nearly 80 million people, according to the company.
“There’s so much stolen information out there now, and it’s all for sale,” says Mr. O’Farrell.
Experts advise using strong passwords and changing them frequently. Update computer applications, especially antivirus software, and make sure that Wi-Fi access is password-protected.
If you prepare your own taxes using a commercial product, make sure your personal information is accurate when you log into the account—especially the bank account number listed for direct deposit of a refund. Inaccurate information could be a telltale sign of a fraudster.
Be careful with paper mail, especially during tax season, when sensitive documents arrive. Guard against theft of such documents and be careful when disposing of them, as thieves can make use of partial information such as a date of birth or bank account number.
Think twice before paying for ID-protection services, experts say. Typically they don’t claim to prevent tax identity theft, which is the most common type of such theft, according to Federal Trade Commission statistics. Most services actually help more with recovery than prevention.
What about filing a paper tax return? That may not help either. If thieves can get your Social Security number and other information via another source, they can still file a false return. An e-filing rejection notice from the IRS is often the first sign of identity theft, Mr. Mattson says, so the extra time it takes to process a paper return delays the discovery and could compound the damage.
If you are a victim, act fast—and then plan to wait. The IRS has a list of steps for victims to take at www.irs.gov before calling the agency. They include filing a police report, an affidavit with the IRS and a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission; contacting one of the three major credit-reporting companies to place a 90-day fraud alert on your credit records; and closing any fraudulent accounts opened in your name.

Victims may want to impose a credit freeze with the credit-reporting firms, which can prevent extensions of credit using their identity. They should also file their tax returns on paper, the IRS says.
After taking these steps, Mr. Jack contacted the firms holding every financial account he and his wife had, including pension and 401(k) plans. He didn’t close the accounts, but the sponsors did issue fraud alerts and in some cases added an extra layer of security.
Victims say the mad dash to deal with tax identity theft typically takes two to three days, followed by a long wait while the IRS completes its investigation. How long? A spokeswoman for the agency say 120 days is the norm, but Mr. Jack and other recent victims say they have been told to expect resolution in 180 days.
In complex cases, the wait can be longer and the process more frustrating. National Taxpayer Advocate Nina Olson has chided the IRS because taxpayers in such cases don’t have a single contact person within the agency, among other issues. Taxpayers “shouldn’t have to navigate the maze of IRS operations, recounting their experience time and again,” she said.
In response, the IRS says that the current system allows taxpayers to get help when they need it and doesn’t depend on a particular employee’s availability.
Tax refunds aren’t paid until a case is closed, which is one more reason to minimize them by not having too much money withheld from paychecks.
Urge Congress to act. Top lawmakers in both the House and Senate are probing this year’s spate of tax identity thefts, and the Senate Finance Committee is expected to focus on them in a hearing on tax scams in March.

Experts say the fraudulent-filing epidemic is partly of the government’s own making, because easy e-filing and rapid refunds—both priorities in Washington—also offer myriad opportunities to criminals. The IRS often doesn’t get wage data until late spring, long after many tax refunds have been paid, so it is at a disadvantage.

Legislation is required, however, to change key elements of the current system, such as speeding up data delivery or allowing employers to mask a portion of an employee’s Social Security number on a W-2.

The IRS, which has had its budget cut by $1.2 billion over the past five years, recently estimated that $82 million more spent on identity theft prevention could save nearly $1 billion in revenue by 2018.

Keep perspective. Experts say tax identity theft can actually be one of the least harmful types of ID theft. Although the process is painful and slow, taxpayers can work out their problems with the IRS.

Far more difficult, Mr. O’Farrell says, is a rarer type of identity theft in which a criminal commits a violent crime in someone else’s name, say, or has a string of drunken-driving arrests. Then the victim “may have to hire lawyers and go to a state he has never visited to declare to a judge that someone has used his identity,” he says.
Still, tax identity theft is no picnic. Kim Ledbetter, who works at a Toyota dealership in Paris, Texas, received a letter from the IRS on Feb. 5 and then learned that someone had filed both a federal and a Missouri return in his name.
“At first I thought we were being audited,” he says, “but this is much worse.”

Culled  From The Wall Street Journal

Asia stocks edge up on China rate cut, dollar index at 11-year high- Reuters

.

View photo

A man (L) looks at a stock quotation board as passers-by walk past, outside a brokerage in Tokyo February 27, 2015. REUTERS/Toru Hanai

By Shinichi Saoshiro

TOKYO (Reuters) - Asian stocks edged higher on Monday as China's weekend interest rate cut partially offset soft U.S. data, while the dollar hit an 11-year high against a basket of currencies.
China on Saturday stepped up its easing tempo and cut its lending and deposit rates as the world's second largest economy tries to ward off deflation.
Australian shares posted some of the biggest gains in Asia following the China rate cut, gaining 0.6 percent (.AXJO) after touching a seven-year peak as resource shares surged.
But the impact from the weekend easing was limited on the region's overall markets.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose a modest 0.1 percent. Tokyo's Nikkei (.N225) crawled up 0.3 percent. The Shanghai Composite Index (.SSEC) edged up 0.3 percent while Malaysian and Thai shares slipped.

While the previous rate cut in late November triggered a 26 percent surge in Chinese shares over the following month, investors appeared less excited this time around.

"It's not a surprise," said Wu Kan, head of equity trading at investment firm Shanshan Finance in Shanghai. "It's a slow bull (market) now, not the kind of crazy bull we saw last year."

The Aussie, a proxy of China growth-related trades, climbed to $0.7850 (AUD=D4) early in the session before impact from the China rate cut faded and was last trading at $0.7767, down 0.6 percent.

"In some senses this rate cut is a technical response to the fact that lower inflation is making real borrowing costs more expensive in China," said Ric Spooner, chief market analyst at CMC Markets in Sydney.

Equity markets were also cautious after revised data on Friday showed U.S. gross domestic product expanded at a slower pace in the fourth quarter than initially thought, and the University of Michigan's final February reading on U.S. consumer sentiment slipped from an 11-year high but topped expectations.

Spreadbetters expected a mixed open for European bourses, forecasting Britain's FTSE (.FTSE) and France's CAC (.FCHI) to open a touch lower but calling for Germany's DAX (.GDAXI) to start slightly higher.

In currencies, China's yuan fell to its lowest level against the dollar since October 2012 after the country's central bank cut rates. [CNY/]

The dollar was up 0.2 percent at 119.88 yen (JPY=) after rising to a three-week high of 119.955. It gained about 0.6 percent last week when upbeat U.S. data helped revive prospects of an early interest rate increase by the Federal Reserve.

The euro hovered near a five-week low of $1.1160. The greenback's broad strength helped the dollar index (.DXY) rise to as high as 95.505, a peak not seen since September 2003.

In addition to the all-important U.S. non-farm payrolls data on Friday, the key focus this week will be the European Central Bank (ECB) meeting on Thursday. Investors keenly await further details on its 1 trillion euro ($1.1 trillion) government bond-buying program, which begins this month.

U.S. crude fell 36 cents to $49.40 a barrel (CLc1) after Friday's $1.59 surge petered out. Last month, U.S. crude posted the first monthly gain since June thanks to an improving demand outlook and supply outages. [O/R]

Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange hovered within distance of a two-month high of $5,944 a tonne (CMCU3) struck last week as China's rate cut fed hopes of increased demand from the metal's top user. [MET/L]

(Additional reporting by Samuel Shen and Pete Sweeney in Shanghai; Editing by Shri Navaratnam, Eric Meijer and Simon Cameron-Moore)