UNITED STATES

A cloud of pessimism is suffocating hopes that U.S. President Barack Obama can pull off a miracle in the Middle East by setting negotiations on course for rapid progress toward a comprehensive peace agreement.

The number of U.S. workers filing new claims for jobless benefits unexpectedly fell 21,000 last week, government data showed on Thursday, and a less volatile unemployment claims gauge dipped to an eight-month low.

China dampened expectations of further sanctions on Iran Thursday, telling other major powers that putting even more pressure on Tehran would not persuade it to halt its nuclear program.

G20 Gathers; Mixed Economic Signals; Losing the Bailout Funds

Shares of Julius Baer Holding AG's U.S. asset management arm Artio Global Investors Inc jumped 6.7 percent in their debut following the company's initial public offering that raised more money than expected.

Nomura Holdings Inc said it would raise up to 511 billion yen ($5.6 billion) in its second share sale since buying Lehman's Asian and European operations, targeting investments and tighter capital requirements.

World stocks slipped from the previous day's 11-month high on Thursday as falling oil prices and caution ahead of the Group of 20 summit prompted investors to cut back on risky assets.

The U.S. financial system remains fragile a year after a bank bailout program was initiated and the government needs to be ready to step in to help more if necessary, a senior U.S. Treasury department official said on Thursday.

JPMorgan Chase & Co (JPM.N) and Wells Fargo & Co (WFC.N) said on Wednesday they are eliminating some overdraft fees altogether and trimming others, after Bank of America Corp (BAC.N) announced a similar move on Tuesday.

Supercomputing, once the province of a select few, is fast becoming a key business tool, a trend Dell Inc (DELL.O) hopes to capitalize on.

U.S. mortgage rates held at their lowest level since late May in the latest week, low enough to continue to spur home loan demand and help the hard-hit U.S. housing market recover.

Sales of previously owned U.S. homes unexpectedly fell in August, a survey showed on Thursday, a minor setback for the housing market's recovery from a three-year slump.

The U.N. Security Council, at a summit chaired by U.S. President Barack Obama, unanimously approved a resolution on Thursday calling on nuclear weapons states to scrap their arsenals.

General Motors Co's [GM.UL] Indian unit is partnering local firm Reva Electric Car Co to develop electric vehicles for the Indian market, and hopes to start selling a battery-operated small car within a year.

U.S. stocks fell on Thursday as a surprise decline in existing home sales suggested an economic recovery would be slow, even as initial jobless claims dropped.

Automakers backed calls to ban drivers on U.S. roads from text messaging with cell phones and other hand-held devices, an issue gaining attention from the Obama administration and Congress.

U.S. venture capitalists have had to contend with an IPO market that has been inhospitable -- but finally there are reasons to be optimistic a recovery could be around the corner.

U.S. taxpayers will probably never recover all of the hundreds of billions of dollars invested to bail out financial firms, automakers and homeowners, a key watchdog for the program said on Thursday.

Nintendo Co Ltd will cut the price of its popular Wii video game console by 20 percent, responding to similar cuts by rivals Sony Corp and Microsoft Corp aimed at kick-starting demand.

An experimental AIDS vaccine made from two older versions has made major progress in finding an effective way to combat the illness, researchers said on Thursday.

International leaders representing the Group of 20 leading industrial nations and the European Union are gathering at Pittsburgh in the north eastern U.S. for the next two days to focus on the task of ensuring that the world emerges from the economic crisis as soon as sustainably possible.