News Today - May 21

* The Federal Reserve's latest forecasts for the U.S. economy are gloomier than the ones released three months earlier, with an expectation for higher unemployment and a steeper drop in economic activity. full story

*Central bank now expects unemployment to rise to a range of 9.2% to 9.6% this year. Fed also predicts a sharper decline in GDP than it had forecast in January.

* Japanese corporate giant Sony plans to cut ties with more than half of its suppliers by the end of 2010, a move that could save it at least $5.3 billion, a report says

* Oil prices hit a six-month high on Wednesday, climbing above $62 a barrel after a government report showed a drop in US oil supplies for the second straight week.

* According to the latest data shared by the US treasury department, India’s outstanding exposure to US government bonds rose from $18.3 billion in October ‘08 to $38.2 billion in March ‘09. The latest tranche of investment into treasuries has made India the fourth-largest creditor to the US after China, Japan and Russia during this period.

* The Japanese yen strengthened against major global currencies Thursday on increased risk aversion after an overnight fall on Wall Street. The gains came after the minutes of a U.S. Federal Reserve meeting showed some members favored more puchases of long-term Treasurys and mortgage-related debt. The U.S. dollar fell in early Asian trading, hitting an early intraday low of 94.34 yen, reportedly the weakest in two months.