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A considerable proportion of people in the UK say they would like to start their own business.

For those that would like to start a new business, 49% of the people questioned by Enterprise UK said that the economic slump has had no impact on their decision to start-up.

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LONDON (Reuters) — Gold recovered earlier losses and rose to a fresh record high Friday with the momentum which has lifted prices more than 9% this month after reports of central bank gold buying.

U.S. gold futures for December delivery on the COMEX division of the New York Mercantile Exchange rose $6.60 to settle at an all-time high of $1,148.50. The precious metal fell to a low of $1,137.00 earlier in the session.

India’s acquisition of 200 tonnes of bullion from the IMF boosted interest in gold earlier this month. The impetus from the move pushed gold through key technical resistance levels, taking gold to a record $1,152.75 an ounce on Wednesday.

The metal may be due a correction after this month’s sharp price rise, analysts said, but in the longer term it is likely to resume its climb.

“The perception is very positive now because of central banks buying gold, but they are buying it off the market. It doesn’t change global holdings of the central banks,” said Wolfgang Wrzesniok-Rossbach, head of sales at Heraeus.

“It gives some support, but I think gold has moved too much in too short a period of time.

“That said, it doesn’t mean there is not an underlying uptrend,” he added.

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HONG KONG (Reuters) – Doubts about the pace of economic recovery hit Asian markets on Thursday, with Japanese stocks falling to a four-month low and the Australian dollar down for a third day as a December interest rate hike no longer looked like a sure thing.

After gains of nearly 70 percent in Asian equities so far this year, investors are likely prone to taking profits before year-end.

A six-month low in U.S. housing construction in October and news this week that Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (8306.T), Japan’s largest bank, will have to raise $11 billion in new shares to meet stricter capital requirements have underscored how the climb back from the worst economic crisis in generations will be slow.

“The fact that they (MUFJ) are doing this now suggests that company management doesn’t believe the economy will improve, and this is hitting the confidence of individual investors,” said Kenichi Hirano at Tachibana Securities in Tokyo.

* Japan’s Nikkei share average .N225 fell 1.3 percent to the lowest since July 21, underperforming Asia.

* The MSCI index of Asia Pacific stocks outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS was relatively unchanged, but still near a 15-month high reached on Tuesday.

* U.S.

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Speaking as a client, it’s great to receive a gift from a business I’ve patronized. A gift (not a coupon, voucher or other promotional item) really does make a person feel appreciated and recognized.

Business gifts can also have a lovely ripple effect. Assuming the client is satisifed (or even happy) with your business’s performance, a client who receives a gift is even more likely to pass the good words around about your business and give you referrals.

So why wait to say “thank you”? Here’s a selection of Top Client Gifts to make it easier to find something that will help you impress that special client.

Image courtesy PriceGrabber.com.

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NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — President Obama is in China this week meeting with that nation’s leaders. Since China is the largest foreign owner of U.S. debt, I wonder if they are going to give Obama a free toaster.

According to figures released by the Treasury department Tuesday morning, China held $798.9 billion in Treasury securities as of the end of September. That’s up slightly from August and just a hair below the $801.5 billion peak that China held in May.

So there’s no way around the fact that China is bankrolling a major part of the U.S. government’s stimulus efforts and financial bailouts of the past year.

With that in mind, it’s no surprise that China is talking tough about how much money the United States is spending and complaining about how low interest rates are and how weak the dollar is.

Over the weekend, China Banking Regulatory Commission Chairman Liu Mingkang said that the depreciation of the dollar and the Federal Reserve’s indications that it won’t raise rates anytime soon have caused “massive” speculation in the currency and stock markets around the globe.

China has a legitimate gripe.

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BEIJING (Reuters) – A stronger Chinese yuan is part of the reforms that Beijing needs to implement to increase domestic consumption and help ease global imbalances, the head of the International Monetary Fund said on Monday.

IMF managing director Dominique Strauss-Kahn said that the global economy appeared to have turned a corner toward recovery but that the biggest risk to the global outlook was a premature removal of stimulus measures.

In prepared remarks to a financial conference in Beijing, he added that, despite strains on the current global monetary system, he still expected the dollar to remain the principle reserve currency “for some time.”

(Reporting by Jason Subler; Editing by Ken Wills)