MARKETS / FINANCE

Wall Street was set to drop at the open on Thursday as Greece once again soured risk appetite with more news on its deteriorating financial position.

The number of workers filing new applications for jobless aid fell last week as the labor market gradually improves, while producer price data showed inflation remained muted, despite a surge in food prices last month.

The number of U.S. workers filing new applications for unemployment insurance fell as expected last week, resuming a downward trend that had been interrupted by the Easter holiday, government data showed on Thursday.

U.S. stock index futures fell on Thursday as Greece once again soured risk appetite with more news on its deteriorating financial position.

World equity markets and the euro turned south on Thursday after the European Union said Greece's budget deficit was worse than first believed, feeding fears about the country's ability to avoid default.

Greece and Ireland had much larger budget deficits last year than expected and the Greek data may be revised further due to its unreliability, the European Union's statistics office said, sending the euro lower.

Good morning dear traders, and again one trading day went to an end. However, I was not really satisfied with it.

Financial markets ticked over hesitantly on Thursday with investors digesting mixed U.S. earnings results and waiting for the next move in Greece's debt crisis.

Asian stocks fell on Thursday as several major U.S. firms issued disappointing outlooks, casting doubts on the strength of a global recovery, and as investors grew impatient for action on Greece's debt crisis, weighing on the euro.

Brazil tops the list of countries asking Google Inc to remove content from its services, the Internet search company disclosed in a new Web tool -- but it said statistics on China are secret.

General Motors Co believes taxpayers could recoup their entire $50 billion investment in the company although the Obama administration still expects the government to take a loss, albeit a smaller one than first thought, on the industry's 2009 bailout.

The Australian Dollar opens lower (0.9260) this morning weighed down by little movement in global equity markets last night and further Greek Sovereign debit worries.

Visa Inc said on Wednesday that it would buy CyberSource Corp, a company that helps retailers accept online payments, to boost its business in emerging markets and online commerce.

Fidelity National Financial Inc , the No.1 U.S. title insurer, posted a quarterly profit below analysts' estimates, hurt by lower revenue from title premiums.

EBay Inc forecast results for the rest of the year that fell short of Wall Street expectations for a faster turnaround as the economy improves, sending its shares down more than 8 percent.

A German state bank said it had severed business ties with Goldman Sachs Group Inc, citing U.S. regulators' allegation that the dominant Wall Street bank committed fraud, while France eyed an investigation of its own.

Within days -- perhaps even hours -- of news that Goldman Sachs was facing fraud charges from U.S. regulators, rivals seized on a chance to elbow in front of Wall Street's most profitable bank.

A Senate panel on Wednesday voted to ban banks from the lucrative swaps market, one of the strictest measures in a planned financial reform that is heading into the home stretch.

The board overseeing much of the U.S. municipal bond market is investigating whether prices charged and paid by brokers and dealers are fair to customers, according to a notice released on Wednesday.

General Motors Co and Chrysler on Wednesday reported progress in their government-backed turnarounds, while the Obama administration still expects a loss on the taxpayer bailout of the industry although smaller than initially forecast.

Robust fixed income trading results launched Morgan Stanley to a better-than- expected first-quarter profit on Wednesday, sending its shares up.

Facebook's user base is growing at its fastest rate ever, the online social network company said on Wednesday as it rolled out features that link the company's platform more tightly with outside Web sites.

EBay Inc forecast results for the rest of the year that fell short of Wall Street expectations, overshadowing its higher profit growth and sending its shares down nearly 6 percent.

U.S. stocks were little changed on Wednesday as disappointing outlooks from healthcare companies overshadowed strong earnings from Morgan Stanley and Apple Inc .

U.S. regulators proposed to make broadband access the focus of subsidized telecommunications for the poor and rural areas, a first step in tackling an ambitious plan to provide high-speed Internet to all Americans.

AT&T Inc's earnings beat expectations on the back of strong iPhone sales, but questions over how much longer it would remain the exclusive U.S. carrier for Apple Inc dampened investor enthusiasm.

U.S. stocks slipped on Wednesday as disappointing outlooks from healthcare companies, including Abbott Laboratories , overshadowed stronger-than-expected earnings from Apple Inc and Morgan Stanley .

The global economy is recovering from recession more quickly than expected but rescue efforts have worsened public finances, and if not reined in, will lead to a debt explosion, the IMF said on Wednesday.

General Motors Co and Chrysler on Wednesday reported progress in their government-financed turnarounds, but the Obama administration still forecasts some loss on the taxpayer bailout of both companies.