MARKETS / FINANCE

Wal-Mart Stores Inc said it would manage nearly 1,600 stores in 20 eastern U.S. states from Atlanta, putting a closer focus on opportunities to grow its business in states such as New York.

The applications for jobless benefits in the U.S. fell more than expected last week, recording a drop for a second consecutive week.

Dutch navigation and digital map maker TomTom, which is struggling with competition from map offerings by Google and Nokia, is not looking to sell its mapping unit, denying a report it might consider a sale.

Stock index futures rose on Thursday as investors shifted focus to jobs data later in the morning, temporarily brushing off euro zone debt concerns.

Brent crude see-sawed on Thursday, as concerns about instability in the Middle East were offset by worries about the economic health of the eurozone following the resignation of Portugal's prime minister.

Stock index futures rose on Thursday as investors shifted focus to jobs data later in the morning, temporarily brushing off euro zone debt concerns.

Britain's triple-A sovereign debt rating could be at risk if slower economic growth makes it harder for the government to rein in its budget deficit, ratings agency Moody's said on Thursday.

Oil rose on Thursday, as concerns about instability in the Middle East outweighed worries about the economic health of the eurozone following the resignation of Portugal's prime minister.

The resignation of Portugal's prime minister will dominate a summit of EU leaders on the European economy on Thursday and Friday, with pressure intense on Lisbon to seek a bailout package.

U.S. stocks were expected to open little changed on Thursday, with futures for the S&P 500, the Dow Jones and the Nasdaq 100 trading flat to 0.1 percent higher.

Political turmoil in Portugal and looming elections in other countries are expected to prevent a summit of European Union leaders this week from taking tough decisions to address the region's debt crisis.

U.S. regulators have asked Citigroup , Deutsche Bank , Bank of America and JPMorgan Chase to make employees available as witnesses in a Libor probe, Bloomberg said, citing two people briefed on the plans.

China still sees risks from euro-zone debt problems and has increased its holdings of European government bonds to help the region, the Chinese foreign ministry said on Thursday.

Baidu Inc, China's largest search engine, said on Thursday it would introduce anti-piracy technology for its document and books product in May, countering criticism that the firm has been lax in dealing with copyright-infringing material.

A Manhattan federal judge dismissed part of a lawsuit by Lions Gate Entertainment Corp against Carl Icahn that accused the activist investor of plotting to merge the studio with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.

Social media service GetGlue has reached a new broadcast partnership with Comcast Corp's NBC Universal's cable networks, including USA Network, SyFy and MSNBC, to reward users for alerting friends on Facebook whenever they are watching TV shows.

It was a brief, surprising, handshake between two men at opposite sides of the biggest Wall Street insider trading trial in decades.

Bill Nguyen, the serial entrepreneur who sold his last company to Apple Inc in 2009, is launching a new cellphone-based social network which aims to challenge Facebook's dominance in social communications beyond the personal computer.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc chief Lloyd Blankfein testified that a former director at Wall Street's most powerful bank violated confidentiality by leaking boardroom secrets to hedge fund manager Raj Rajaratnam.

Wireless broadband network company LightSquared has won a deal to help Best Buy Co Inc instead of looking to LightSquared to expand its access to wireless airwaves.

Social media service GetGlue has reached a new broadcast partnership with Comcast Corp's NBC Universal's cable networks, including USA Network, SyFy and MSNBC, to reward users for alerting friends on Facebook whenever they are watching TV shows.

Martin Gruenberg, the vice chairman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp, is in line to be a possible successor to Chairman Sheila Bair after she steps down later this year, the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday.

A money manager who claimed ties to Belgian royalty was sentenced on Wednesday to 3 to 9 years in prison after pleading guilty to running a $7 million Ponzi scheme, Manhattan's district attorney said.

European Union leaders are unlikely to take a decision on how to strengthen the euro zone's bailout fund until June, undermining market confidence and possibly prolonging the region's debt crisis.

Swiss bank UBS tricked victims of Bernard Madoff's giant Ponzi scheme by sponsoring a Luxembourg-registered fund that for four years fed assets directly to the fraudster without saying so in its prospectus, a Paris court heard on Wednesday.

The Federal Reserve told Bank of America Corp's to rein in its plans for a modest dividend increase, in a sign that regulators still view the lender as being financially weaker than its rivals.

Sales of new homes sank to a record low in February and prices were the weakest in just over seven years, underscoring the housing market's lingering malaise, which could slow the economic recovery.

U.S. stocks advanced on Wednesday as materials shares rose, but rising commodities prices due to turmoil in the Middle East and North Africa could keep rallies modest.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc chief Lloyd Blankfein told jurors at Raj Rajaratnam's insider trading trial that a former director at Wall Street's most powerful bank violated boardroom confidentiality in discussions with the accused hedge fund manager.