(03-10) 04:39 PDT NEW YORK, (AP) —

Wall Street headed toward a higher opening Monday as investors smarting from a pummeling last week awaited data that will give more clues about consumer spending and inflation.

The market was expected to trade very nervously after worries about the economy and the continuing fallout from the credit crisis pounded stocks at week’s end. Investors appeared to be waiting for direction early Monday rather than heading toward major moves.

The key economic data was coming later in the week Д the Commerce Department’s retail sales report comes out Thursday, and the Labor Department issues the consumer price index on Friday.

Monday does bring first-quarter earnings from Hovnanian Enterprises Inc. Investors are hoping that the homebuilder sees some signs that will point to a pickup in home sales and in turn, an end to the housing slump.

Dow Jones industrial futures were up 50 at 11,941, Standard & Poor’s 500 futures were up 6.10 at 1,298.60, and Nasdaq 100 futures are up 8 at 1,716.8.

Last week, the Dow ended down 3.04 percent, the S&P 500 index was off 2.80 percent, and the Nasdaq composite index closed with a loss of 2.60 percent.

The market may have gotten some support early Monday from a mild pullback in commodities prices, including gold and oil. A raging rally in commodities has sent the dollar skidding, and in turn raised concerns about rising inflation even as the economy slows.

Wall Street will also be watching for any clues from the Federal Reserve as to its plans for interest rates. The central bank meets next Tuesday and is widely expected to drop key rates at least half a percentage point.

However, there is great concern in the market that the Fed’s moves might not be enough to keep the sagging economy out of recession. News from the Labor Department Friday that the economy lost 63,000 jobs last month helped set off another steep drop in stocks.

Most Asian markets sank Monday, some in response to Wall Street’s losses last week, with Tokyo’s market falling to a 2 1/2-year low. In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 stock average tumbled 250.67 points, or 1.96 percent, to 12,532.13 points, its lowest since September 2005.

Hong Kong’s market bucked the trend, with a recovery in afternoon trading driven by bargain-hunting and gains banking giant HSBC. The Hang Seng Index rose 203.72 points, or 0.9 percent, to 22,705.05.

Stocks were higher on European exchanges.

One of the humblest ingredients in British cooking has made its debut on a restaurant menu in Yorkshire. Free on top of fish and chips since the first chippie opened in Mossley, Lancashire, in 1863, batter scraps are now being offered at a price - at a waterside eaterie in the yuppy heart of Leeds.

“Two pounds?” said brewery worker Norman Loftus, gazing in disbelief at the neat list of “smaller things” on the a la carte list at Battered. “For scraps? Tell me I’m hallucinating on mushy peas.”

The reaction has been widely shared in Yorkshire this week at the first known appearance of fryers’ waste - also known as bits, shoddy and nips - as a dish on its own. Though invitingly golden-brown, the scraps are none the less just that: leftover fragments of batter sieved from beef dripping in the deep pan.

Up to now, they have always come as a small, and invariably free, extra to takeaway fish and chips. Any not scattered on customers’ portions at the chippie are thrown out at the end of the day.

“We feel that’s been the wasting of a great asset,” says Stephen Hawkins, the restaurant’s co-owner. “It’s high time scraps were rescued from the sidelines. They’ve got every bit as much potential as breadsticks or garlic doughballs.”

The 2 bowls, piled high with scraps, come in three variants - zested and juiced with lemon, sprinkled with chilli flakes and mixed with rock pepper or nutmeg. But Battered’s head chef, Robert Charnley, says: “That’s only the beginning - we’re keen to expand our scraps offering. Customers have started coming up with suggestions for other ingredients to mix in.”

But Mr Hawkins’ pioneering dish faces resistance from healthy eaters, including a customer, Catharine Ufondu. She screwed up her face in horror as her son Andrew tried a particularly plump scrap. “I wouldn’t pay 2 for what’s basically waste,” he said. “But I can see that there could be something in scraps if you mix them with more interesting things.”

The National Federation of Fish Fryers, which has made Leeds the capital of dripping country since 1913, was more guarded. “The restaurant hasn’t affiliated to us so we don’t have any comment on their scraps,” said the general secretary Anne Kirk.

True northerners can be reassured, however, that free scraps remain available even at Battered, where the standard 8 haddock, chips and peas can be sprinkled in the traditional way at no cost.

Join the debate about the price of scraps and their gourmet future on our food blog, «blogs.guardian.co.uk».

(03-10) 04:00 PDT SHANGHAI, China (AP) —

Major contractor China Railway Construction’s shares rose by a smaller-than-expected 28 percent early Monday after an initial public offering that raised $5.4 billion Д the biggest IPO so far this year.

The company’s shares began trading in Shanghai amid bleak overall sentiment, as the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index slipped 3.6 percent to 4,146.30, its lowest close in seven months.

China Railway Construction shares hit a high of 12.18 yuan ($1.71) in early trading, up 34 percent from the IPO offering price of 9.08 yuan ($1.28), before closing at 11.64 yuan ($1.63) Д a gain of about 28 percent.

The gain was smaller than average forecasts for a 43 percent rise, according to Dow Jones Newswires.

China Railway Construction raised 22.3 billion yuan ($3.1 billion) in its IPO of 2.45 billion yuan-denominated shares in Shanghai. A parallel share offering in Hong Kong raised $2.3 billion.

The company’s shares are due to begin trading in Hong Kong on March 13.