ECONOMY & MARKETS

Crude oil futures are slightly lower Thursday as investors await the outcome of the OPEC ministerial meeting in Vienna.

European markets fell Thursday as investor confidence was low ahead of the Italian bond auction later in the day.

Finland-based cell phone manufacturer Nokia announced Thursday that it plans to cut 10,000 jobs globally as part of its revamping measures.

Asian markets fell Thursday as weak retail sales data by the U.S. Commerce Department and Spanish debt downgrade by Moody's weighed down on investor sentiment.

Stock markets in China and Hong Kong declined Thursday as weaker-than-expected data on monthly U.S. retail sales and renewed concerns about the debt-laden euro zone weighed on the sentiment.

The top after-market NYSE gainers Wednesday were: Spartech Corp, Haverty Furniture, SuperValu, Orbitz Worldwide and Unifi. The top after-market NYSE losers were: Korn/Ferry International, Winnebago Industries, Select Income REIT, Radian Group and Yelp.

Japan's Nikkei 225 Stock Average fell Thursday amid report of cut in Spain's credit rating and disappointing data from the U.S.

U.S. investors are getting back into real estate, but their efforts are being complicated by the uncertain housing market.

Credit ratings agency Moody's Investors Service cut its rating on Spanish government debt on Wednesday by three notches to Baa3 from A3, saying the newly approved euro zone plan to help Spain's banks will increase the country's debt burden.

Precious and industrial metals have been moving higher over the past few sessions in spite of fundamentals, suggesting commodities traders are loading up on the physical assets in anticipation of seeing at least one of the world's major central banks turn on the money spigots later this month.

Openet, one of Ireland?s flourishing software developers, said it raised an additional $21 million from investors in Japan, Europe and the U.S., bringing the cumulative total raised in 13 years to $55 million.

Protestors were present on Wednesday, June 13, when JPMorgan Chase chief executive Jamie Dimon testified on Capitol Hill in Washington. The activists reportedly heckled Dimon as the head of the largest bank in the U.S arrived to take his seat at a Senate Banking Committee hearing.

The Delhi High Court Wednesday issued notices to the Indian government and Air India management on the striking pilots' plea for their salaries for March.

Five major corporations will join the emergency campaign to save the world's threatened forests by pledging to buy REDD multimillion dollar credits from projects protecting threatened forests around the world, the campaign announced Tuesday at the U.N. Conference on Sustainable Development, commonly known as Rio+20.

Among the companies whose shares are moving in pre-market trading Wednesday are Alpha Natural Resources, Arch Coal, Zynga, Arena Pharmaceuticals, Alexza Pharmaceuticals, 3D Systems Corp, Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, Autoliv, Seadrill and Kraft Foods.

Wal-Mart lawyers have identified India, China, South Africa, Brazil and Mexico as the most corrupt countries, according to a letter from two congressmen investigating the bribery charges leveled against the company.

Futures on major U.S. indices point to a slightly lower opening Wednesday ahead of the retail sales report and producer price index.

Crude oil futures hovered above $83 a barrel Wednesday ahead of a weekly report on US oil supplies as well as Thursday's OPEC ministerial meeting in Vienna.

European markets rose Wednesday following an overnight rally in the Wall Street amid anticipation that the U.S. Federal Reserve would announce further quantitative easing to support the economy.

Asian markets rose Wednesday but gains were weighed down as investors were worried about the debt crisis lingering over the euro zone.

Stock markets in Hong Kong and China advanced Wednesday following an overnight rally in Wall Street overnight.

Japan's Nikkei 225 Stock Average rose Wednesday but maintained a cautious tone as investors have concerns of the persisting debt crisis looming over the euro zone.

The top after-market NYSE gainers Tuesday were: Higher One Holdings, Alpha Natural Resources, Curtiss-Wright, Health Management and J.C. Penney Company. The top after-market NYSE losers were: Scotts Miracle, 3D Systems, Endeavor International, Celadon Group and Fifth & Pacific Companies.

That massive pile of cash corporate America has been sitting on for years is shrinking, and the reason it's declining bodes well for the nation's economy.

One of the fastest growing segments of Kevin Hartz's business is bacon. Hartz isn't a chef or farmer. Rather, he's founder and CEO of Eventbrite, a ticketing website that offers an independent platform for event organizers of all types.

The European Union's ?100 billion ($126 billion) bailout of Spanish banks may have, at least temporarily, saved those institutions. But the rescue is being judged a failure by the markets, as it appears to have seriously damaged the government's ability to borrow from international creditors, something a country running on deficit financing for the foreseeable future is vitally dependent on.

Though rents went down, grocery bills shrank and companies trimmed their workforce after the devastating 2011 earthquake and tsunami, Tokyo edged past Angolan capital Luanda to become the world?s most expensive city for expatriates in Mercer?s 2012 survey.

Elinor Ostrom, the first woman to win Nobel Prize in economics, died on Tuesday, June 12, after battling cancer. She was 78 years old. The distinguished Indiana University professor received the 2009 Nobel Prize in economic sciences for her groundbreaking research on the ways that people organize themselves to manage resources. She was the first and, to date, only woman to win the prize in this category.

The reassurance provided by the ?100 billion ($125 billion) Spanish banking bailout last Saturday has already waned, and on Tuesday morning, the country's 10-year bond yields rose again to 6.67 percent, drawing closer to euro-era highs of 6.8 percent.