IBT Staff Reporter

U.S. warehouse club operator Costco Wholesale Corp posted a better-than-expected 8 percent rise in January sales at stores open at least a year, helped by higher gasoline prices.

Facebook on Wednesday filed to raise $5 billion in an initial public offering. Here are a few highlights of its meteoric rise, several of which were chronicled in David Fincher's seminal Oscar-winning 2010 movie, The Social Network:

Merck & Co on Thursday reported weaker-than-expected quarterly sales and predicted relatively flat 2012 results as the No. 2 drugmaker girds for cheaper generic forms of its biggest product, asthma drug Singulair.

CME Group , the biggest U.S. futures exchange operator, on Thursday said fourth-quarter profits rose sharply because of tax benefits and said it would institute a special annual dividend on top of its regular quarterly payout, which it also increased.

Stock index futures pointed to slight gains at the open on Thursday after jobless claims fell more than expected, boosting optimism about the upcoming January payrolls report.

VeriSign Inc., the company in charge of delivering people safely to more than half the world's Web sites, has been hacked repeatedly by outsiders who stole undisclosed information from the leading Internet infrastructure company.

Youku.com, China's largest online video company, filed a lawsuit against its No.1 rival, Tudou Holdings Ltd, saying it incurred losses because of claims by Tudou that Youku had misused copyrighted material, the government-run Xinhua news agency reported on Thursday.

New U.S. claims for unemployment benefits fell last week, a government report showed on Thursday, pointing to more healing in the nation's battered jobs market.

A handful of U.S. retailers, including Costco Wholesale Corp and Limited Brands Inc , beat Wall Street's expectations for January sales, but analysts are not so optimistic about department store chains and apparel chains that have yet to report on Thursday.

Stock index futures were little changed on Thursday as investors looked ahead to weekly jobless claims data, one last clue about the state of the labor market before Friday's key jobs report.

Investors are needlessly exposing themselves to huge potential losses by defying two golden rules for making money through bonds - lend more to those who will pay on time in full and less to those already saturated in debt.

Stock index futures were little changed on Thursday as investors looked ahead to weekly jobless claims data, one last clue about the state of the labor market before Friday's key non-farm payrolls report.

The number of planned layoffs at U.S. firms surged in January to its highest level in four months as retailers and financial firms cut jobs, a report on Thursday showed.

The Tokyo Stock Exchange suffered a major glitch in cash-share trading for the first time in six years on Thursday that prevented morning trade in some 240 shares and instruments, including Sony Corp , and provoked anger among traders.

Greece's prime minister faces the daunting task of rallying reluctant political leaders behind unpopular wage and pension cuts demanded by lenders as the price for bailout money that is essential to avert a chaotic default.

Royal Dutch Shell unveiled ambitious new growth plans alongside disappointing fourth quarter results on Thursday, raising concerns about how much profit the increased activity will bring.

China is considering providing greater involvement in the rescue funds aimed at resolving the European debt crisis, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao told journalists on Thursday.

Josef Ackermann's reign at Deutsche Bank ended in a surprise quarterly loss on Thursday, with the bank hit by a downturn in bond trading due to the euro zone crisis and writedowns on holdings in drug and gambling companies.

China is considering greater involvement in the European Financial Stability Facility and the upcoming European Stability Mechanism , Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao told journalists on Thursday.

The world's largest online retailer Amazon.com Inc entered India on Thursday with the launch of its shopping website junglee.com, in a major boost to the country's fast-growing e-commerce market.

Taiwan's AU Optronics, the world's fourth-largest LCD maker, said on Thursday it would form a strategic alliance with Japan's Idemitsu Kosan to develop next-generation flat screen technology, as the industry struggles with falling prices.

Stock index futures pointed to a flat open on Wall Street on Thursday, with futures for the S&P 500 down 0.1 percent, Dow Jones futures flat and Nasdaq 100 futures up 0.2 percent at 4:45 a.m. ET.

Royal Dutch Shell Plc reported a 14 percent rise in fourth quarter profits on Thursday, as high oil prices outweighed dismal industry-wide margins in its refining business.

The centre of Rupert Murdoch's British newspaper clean-up operation is an unimposing set of offices in a corner of the company's campus in Wapping, east London.

The internet security options installed on the PCs won't be triggered as the mails themselves are not infected.

Facing stiff global headwinds and a downturn in its property sector, China should cut taxes and slash banks' reserve requirements this year to underpin growth, a senior government economist said on Thursday.

European shares hit a six-week high on Thursday adding to solid gains after global manufacturing data eased fears about the growth outlook, but with Greek debt talks unresolved, gains were limited.

Asian shares rose on Thursday as encouraging manufacturing data soothed fears about the global economic fallout from the euro zone debt crisis, but the euro lost steam as the ongoing Greek debt talks reminded investors of the complexity of the problem.

Royal Dutch Shell said it was targeting aggressive growth in the coming years, with the startup of big new projects and higher investments in exploration set to drive a 50 percent rise in cashflow and a 25 percent rise in oil and gas production.