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Michel Barnier is renamed in the United Kingdom for its position on complex parts of town commerce photo: Reuters

Mr Barnier announced proposals for a public consultation on the review of the European Commission in Brussels for business investment, the markets in financial instruments (Mifid) directive key regulatory framework.

Mr Barnier, which is renamed to Britain for its position on the complex parts of commerce of the city, said: "the initial objective of this master piece of European legislation, Mifid, was to create a strong common regulatory framework for Europe's securities markets." In many respects, it was a success. But the world has changed.

"My goal is to make the revision of the Mifid lead to a regulatory framework more loudly, adapted to new trends and stakeholders in the financial markets." And a framework leading to greater transparency and efficiency, so that more protection for investors in the market.

Proposals draw plans for a radical expansion of the existing rules as well as more stringent regulations and greater transparency.

Published Wednesday, explains the consultation will be central to "provide a robust regulatory framework covering all the activities of services investment and appropriately to avoid the risks associated with non-covered activities".

Mr Barnier vision includes extending rules of transparency, which currently covers only actions, to include some of the more opaque areas of the financial markets, including the so-called "dark pools" and "over-the-counter" derivatives.

The politician has requested that regulations fight against the "high frequency" that uses computers to buy and sell shares and bonds trade quickly.

The practice was suspected of triggering of the so-called "flash crash" in may, when the Dow Jones plunged almost 10pc in minutes.

Study also examine the causes of the recent volatility of the prices of raw materials, for example in the markets of copper and silver, with a particular control of the derivatives markets.

In the document, regulators said they will consider "reporting requirements may be necessary to improve the flow of information, and if the position limits must be regarded as".

Consultation will remain open until 2 February 2011 to make legislative proposals in the spring of next year.

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By DAVID K. RANDALL, Associated Press Business Writer David K. Randall, Associated Press Business Writer – Tue?Nov?9, 4:26?pm?ET

NEW YORK – Stocks and government bonds fell Tuesday as commodities rallied to two-year highs.

Silver, soybeans and copper jumped to levels last seen in October 2008 as investors moved money into hard assets in anticipation that a massive economic stimulus plan announced by the Federal Reserve last week will continue to weaken the dollar. Investors are expecting that commodities will hold their value even if the dollar falls.

The Fed plans to buy $600 billion in U.S. government bonds over the next six months in an effort to push interest rates even lower and encourage borrowing and spending. It's a tactic called quantitative easing, one that the Fed used successfully in 2008 to restore confidence in financial markets at the height of the credit crisis.

"The market is still being driven by the Fed's actions and it will be for a while," Dirk van Dijk, senior equity strategist at Zacks.com.

Treasury prices fell despite a strong auction of 10-year notes. Investors are concerned that demand may be weak for 30-year bonds in an auction upcoming Wednesday. The price of the 30-year bond was down sharply, losing about two full points, or $2 per $100 in face value. Its yield rose to 4.23 percent, the highest level since June 10.

The 30-year bond wasn't one of the maturities being heavily targeted by the Fed's purchasing program announced last week, and its long maturity makes it more sensitive to inflation than shorter-term notes.

Many investors worry that the Fed's bond-buying program could lead to a jump in inflation down the line, which would erode the value of all bonds since their fixed payouts would become worth less over time. With the Fed now focused on encouraging some inflation, "it might be hard for investors to convince themselves to buy" at Wednesday's auction, said John Briggs, a fixed income analyst at RBS.

The dollar has been falling against other currencies in anticipation of the Fed's stimulus program, but it gained 0.9 percent against an index of other currencies Tuesday as new troubles emerged in Ireland, one of the weaker countries that use the euro, Europe's shared currency.

Investors are concerned that Ireland's government will not be able to pass additional spending cuts and will have to ask for financial assistance. Greece, another member of the euro club, was forced to seek a bailout from other European countries in April after investors dumped the countries bonds in the wake of a fiscal crisis there.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 60.09, or 0.5 percent, to 11,346.75. The broader Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 9.85, or 0.8 percent, to 1,213.40, while the technology-focused Nasdaq composite index fell 17.07, or 0.7 percent, to 2,562.98.

Every industry group within the S&P 500 fell. Financial shares, which fell 2.2 percent, were the worst performing industry group.

Gold settled at $1.410.10 an ounce, up $6.90. The precious metal is hovering near record levels in dollar terms but is still well below its peak in the early 1980s after accounting for inflation.

The weakening dollar has been benefiting gold as investors seek other assets seen as safe places to park money. Some gold investors see the metal as a hedge against national currencies losing their value as a result of inflation.

Silver rose, jumping 5.4 percent to settle at $28.906 an ounce. The metal's large gains may be a result of traders buying silver because it had fallen below its typical price relationship with gold. Gold usually trades at 50 times the price of silver, said Rick de los Reyes, a metals and mining analyst at T. Rowe Price.

"Gold is someone's first instinct when they are buying for all of the reasons they're buying gold right now, and silver usually lags somewhat," he said. Silver, which has a greater use for industries than gold, is rising alongside other industrial metals like platinum and copper.

In corporate news, Chevron Corp. shares fell 1.5 percent after announcing a deal to buy the natural-gas producer Atlas Energy for $4.3 billion, following other natural gas deals by rival energy giants Exxon Mobil Corp. and Royal Dutch Shell PLC.

Shares of Dean Foods Co. sank 17.9 percent after the country's largest dairy company announced disappointing results. The company has slashed prices to compete with supermarkets selling milk under their own labels. Dean Foods shares have slumped 53 percent for the year, making it one of the worst performing stocks in the S&P 500 index.

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SYDNEY (Reuters) – Gold hit a fresh record and Japanese shares struck three-month highs on Monday as low interest rates in advanced economies drove investors to seek higher returns and protection against inflation.

The dollar rose sharply as traders continued to unwind short positions after stronger-than-expected U.S. jobs data on Friday, and as worries about debt problems in Ireland and other parts of the euro zone weighed on the euro.

Major European shares (.FTEU3) eased 0.1 percent in early trade as investors took profits on last week's strong rally, which had pushed some markets into "overbought" territory.

"A liquidity bubble is emerging in global markets," said Kenichi Hirano, operating officer at Tachibana Securities. "Investors increasingly believe Japanese stocks, which have lagged behind, will also reverse course."

Super-loose monetary policy and tepid economic growth in most of the developed world has fueled the hunt for better yields. Friday's strong U.S. jobs report further encouraged the drive into riskier assets, although the effect was muted in the currency market by the bounce in the U.S. dollar.

The U.S. dollar index (.DXY) against a basket of major currencies rose 0.4 percent, extending its rebound from an 11-month low hit last week, restraining the yen from 15-year peaks and offering some respite to Japanese exporters.

Japan's Nikkei average (.N225) rose 1.1 percent to its highest level since late July, and was the day's best performer in Asia.

The broader MSCI Asia ex-Japan index (.MIAPJ0000PUS) eased 0.1 percent but was still a whisker from Friday's 2-1/2-year highs.

Shanghai stocks (.SSEC) struck seven-month peaks and the Indonesian bourse (.JKSE) rose to yet another record high as foreign funds continued to flood into fast growing emerging markets, spurred by expectations that U.S. interest rates would stay near zero for a long time.

Since the start of 2009, Indonesian shares have leapt 172 percent, dwarfing a mere 10 percent gain in the Nikkei over the same period.

INFLATION FEARS PUSH GOLD TO NEW HIGH

Firm commodity prices led resource stocks higher across the region, though the dollar's rebound pared gains in energy and metals prices on Monday.

In Japan, Sumitomo Metal Mining Co (5713.T) climbed 2.3 percent and Mitsui Mining and Smelting (5706.T) gained 2.7 percent. Australia's Rio Tinto (RIO.AX) rose 0.2 percent.

Gold, a traditional hedge against inflation, briefly powered to a record above $1,398 an ounce on concerns that fresh policy easing unveiled by the U.S. Federal Reserve last week would inevitably fuel inflationary pressures that may prove hard to snuff out.

Crude oil held near two-year highs and silver hit 30-year peaks.

A TURN IN EURO?

Even though the currency market seemed to shy from risk on Monday after a drop in the euro below $1.40 dragged other higher-yielding currencies down with it, some investors were not sure if selling in the euro would last.

In late trade, the euro was down at $1.3950, testing support at $1.3920, the 61.8 percent retracement of its October 20 to November 4 rally to a 10-month highs.

On one hand, resurging worries about debt problems in Europe were weighing on the common currency once more. The ten-year Irish bond yield spread over benchmark German debt hit record highs on Friday.

But many traders also conceded it was hard to be bullish on the dollar given record low U.S. rates and its sluggish economy.

"I think the euro could fall to around $1.37, though I think its trading range since October will hold," said Keiji Matsumoto, a strategist at Nikko Cordial Securities.

(Additional reporting by Aiko Hayashi, Hideyuki Sano and Chikafumi Hodo in TOKYO)

(Editing by Kim Coghill)

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