U.S. lawmakers criticized U.S. President Barack Obama's administration Thursday for not pressuring China enough over its rigid currency as they set the stage for slapping import duties on Chinese goods.

China is passive on the value of the U.S. dollar as the level doesn't affect the nation's economy, central bank Governor Zhou Xiaochuan said, rebuffing criticism that the government is devaluing the yuan.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said he's “quite confident” China will move to relax controls on the value of the country's currency, the yuan, as its economy becomes less reliant on exports.

Asian policy makers are studying capital controls to limit “hot money” inflows that may stoke asset bubbles and force their currencies to appreciate.

From Angola to Belarus, emerging-market governments are planning first-time debt offerings to take advantage of the biggest bond rally in at least 11 years.

Home foreclosures are likely to keep climbing through all of next year despite stabilizing housing prices in some areas, a major lender group said Thursday as it reported that the level of delinquencies and repossessed homes had jumped to a new record.

California home prices edged higher last month as first-time buyers took advantage of a federal tax credit and foreclosure properties made up a smaller slice of the market, fresh data showed Thursday.

A recovery in U.S. housing will have to wait at least until next year.

Some of the computer-industry's biggest players — such as IBM Corp., Intel Corp. and Hewlett-Packard Co. — have wowed Wall Street this fall with stronger-than-expected profits.

Consumers will have to wait until next year's holiday shopping season to find out if Google Inc.'s new operating system can deliver on its promise to make low-cost computers run faster.