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Stocks rose, likely boosted by a drop in jobless claims and an optimistic forecast by FedEx Corp. (NYSE: FDX), ahead of post-closing earnings reports from Research In Motion (Nasdaq: RIMM) and Oracle (Nasdaq: ORCL).

Oracle Corp forecast that its profit in the current quarter will beat Wall Street estimates, suggesting that its strategy of offering a one-stop shop for software and hardware is paying off.

U.S. stocks advanced in early trade on Thursday, following better-than-expected initial jobless claims and housing starts data.

Futures on major U.S. stock indices remained-range bound on Thursday ahead of economic data, including key weekly U.S. jobs data from the government.

The companies which are expected to see active trade in Thursday are Oracle, Accenture, Research In Motion, Danaher, FedEx and General Mills.

Oracle Corp., one of the world's biggest enterprise software makers, is expected to report better-than-expected numbers, when it reports second quarter results today after the market closes.

HP has bagged a five-year $1.4 billion technology infrastructure outsourcing deal with German utility giant E.ON.

Oracle Corp is seeking another $211 million from SAP AG on top of the $1.3 billion jury verdict it won last month after a widely watched copyright infringement trial.

Chronology: Key events that highlight Apple's march this year

Patent collecting company Intellectual Ventures, which was started by former Microsoft CTO Nathan Myhrvold, has filed patent lawsuits against nine companies.

Chronology: Key events that have punctuated Oracle's handling of Java this year.

The top pre-market NASDAQ stock market gainers are: Orexigen Therapeutics, VIVUS, Microvision, Aixtron, Dynamex, ASM International, Zix, Ryanair Holdings, Geron, and Oracle.

Cloud-based software maker Salesforce.com Inc is entering the business of selling database programs that manage vast arrays of corporate data, challenging leader Oracle Corp in the $21 billion a year market.

After irking the FOSS community by attempting to muscle control over open-source projects like Java, MySQL, OpenOffice and Solaris, Oracle is back again and is eyeing Hudson project, much to the dismay of open-sources.

A U.S. district court jury has returned a verdict that business software maker SAP AG has stolen software from rival Oracle Corp. and must pay the latter $1.3 billion in damages.

Netflix has moved its video-on-demand streaming service to the cloud, taking its datacenter to Amazon Web Services EC2 (AWC), citing the need for agility and the high cost of running Oracle on IBM as its primary motive.

Futures on major U.S. stock indices extended earlier gains on Wednesday after the Department of Labor reported that weekly jobless claims fell sharply last week to the lowest level since July 2008.

The top pre-market NASDAQ stock market gainers are: Magic Software Enterprises, Tesla Motors, Deckers Outdoor, F5 Networks, DryShips, Avanir Pharmaceuticals, Amazon.com, Baidu, Oracle, and Netflix.

SAP AG will be paying Oracle 1.3 billion in damages, one of the largest awards ever given in a copyright infringement suit.

Futures on major U.S. stock indices point to a higher opening on Wednesday ahead of a wave of economic data including durable goods orders and new home sales.

The top after-market NASDAQ stock market gainers are: Dynamex, THQ, O'Charley's, Take-Two Interactive Software, SmartHeat, SMART Modular Technologies WWH, LTX-Credence, MIPS Technologies, ChinaCast Education, and Oracle.

PC giant Hewlett Packard is probably going to sign a mega customer relationship management deal with Salesforce.com for about 35,000 to 40,000 seats, a move that might end up replacing Oracle Siebel as its CRM provider.

iPhone, just three years old and already attained cult status, has catapulted Apple (AAPL) to one of the largest technology companies in the world.

Hardware partners beware, lock your warehouses or get sued. Oracle filed a suit against Multis on Nov. 9 at U.S. District Court for Northern District of California, for breach of contract under which they were liable for losses, if they failed to secure the partner's hardware.

Google has spruced up Product Search ahead of Christmas and added a feature that lists local stores where the products are in-stock.

The stage is set for another wave of mergers and acquisitions in the U.S. technology sector as the big players, who are flush with cash and looking to expand their horizon, are acquiring aggressively in quest for new products and technology.

Standpoint Research has initiated coverage on Cisco Systems with a 'buy' rating and a price target of $24 and analyst Ronnie Moas said the market has overreacted to the company's weak outlook.

While Oracle and HP's altercation over CEOs continued, nearly 400 of their clients switched to IBM servers and storage systems.

Oracle and Apple have announced the OpenJDK project for Mac OS X, a move that will make Apple's Java technology available to open source developers.