IBT Staff Reporter

Spain and Italy spread cheer through euro zone markets on Thursday with successful debt auctions at sharply lower borrowing costs in 2012's first real test of appetite for debt from the Eurozone's bruised periphery.

Royal Bank of Scotland is to axe 3,500 investment bank jobs and sell or shut equities and advisory business under a 3-year plan to further reduce risk and focus more on domestic retail and corporate banking.

Spain spread cheer in euro zone markets on Thursday with a successful bond auction where it sold more then double its target and cut borrowing costs in 2012's first real test of appetite for debt from the euro zone's bruised periphery.

Big Wall Street and European banks are looking to slash budgets across Asia, as the emerging market promise is trumped by an urgent need to control costs.

Stock index futures pointed to a flat to slightly lower open on Wall Street on Thursday, with S&P 500 futures down 0.14 percent, Dow Jones futures down 0.10 percent and Nasdaq 100 futures up 0.01 percent at 0925 GMT.

Belgian supermarket group Delhaize plans to cut 5,000 jobs after fourth-quarter sales fell just short of expectations in its key United States and Belgium markets, due to the weak consumer sentiment and price competition.

LG Electronics Inc is engaged in talks with various parties on possible partnerships, the head of LG's mobile business said on Wednesday, as the world's No.3 handset maker seeks to turn around its struggling handset operation.

Spain will provide 2012's first real test of demand for debt from the euro zone's bruised periphery on Thursday when it sells around 5 billion euros ($6.39 billion) of bonds.

LG Electronics Inc is engaged in talks with various parties on possible deals, the head of LG's mobile business said on Wednesday, as the world's No.3 handset maker seeks to turn around its struggling handset operation.

The number of U.S. homes that received a foreclosure filing fell to a four-year low in 2011 as a slowdown in processing hit the market, RealtyTrac said in a report on Thursday.

Goldman Sachs Group said Wednesday that two high-ranking leaders of its trading business have left the firm as Wall Street executives come under more pressure to cut costs and put less of their money at risk in trades.

General Motors Co could shift more vehicle production to its European factories in a cost-cutting deal with its German union that could avert a damaging standoff and keep Opel out of bankruptcy, people familiar with the discussions said.

Supermarket operator Delhaize America said it will close 113 underperforming Food Lion stores mainly in markets in which the company has the least store density and will cut 4,900 jobs to focus on markets with high density.

A lawyer involved in several major recent bankruptcies has been named the examiner for the bankruptcy of Dynegy Holdings LLC and will investigate whether the company is treating bondholders fairly.

China's annual inflation eased to 4.1 percent December, the lowest level in 15 months, giving the government more room to tilt economic policy away from restraining prices and towards supporting sagging growth.

A recent rise in loans to businesses is spurring hope that U.S. bank earnings reports, which begin on Friday, will show the outlook for this economically critical industry is better than battered stock prices and weak investment banking volumes suggest.

Hampton Adams has been one of CES' most loyal devotees for 15 years. But unlike a good chunk of the 140,000-plus who descend on the world's largest technology showcase every January, the portfolio manager is less keen on fiddling with cutting-edge technology than picking winners.

The Golden Globes have Nicole Kidman, the SAG Awards booked Natalie Portman and the Critics' Choice Movie Awards one-upped them all by announcing that Bob Dylan will perform as part of a special tribute to Martin Scorsese.

Damien Hirst may have slowed down since bursting onto the scene as unofficial leader of the Young British Artist movement in the 1990s, but he remains one of the most divisive figures in the art world today.

British singer Adele kicked off 2012 just like much of 2011 -- at the top of the Billboard album charts, for a 15th week, with her best-selling 21.

ABC's controversial cross-dressing comedy Work It dropped considerably Tuesday night from its already soft premiere, while CBS took a handy overall win with a roster that included the top-rated NCIS, according to preliminary numbers.

Modern Family is breaking one of the oldest TV taboos: No cursing toddlers. In an episode next week, baby Lily will say the F-word.

Visual effects pioneer Douglas Trumbull, who was already enjoying his most high-profile year in some time, has been voted the Gordon E. Sawyer Award by the Academy's Board of Governors.

The bad news: only two more days until the TV series finale of one of the last remaining daytime soap operas, ABC's One Life to Live.

New rules in the Oscar documentary process are not going to make things harder for documentary filmmakers, director and AMPAS governor Michael Moore told TheWrap.

Kobe Bryant turned back the clock with a 48-point effort to lead the Los Angeles Lakers to a 99-83 win over the Phoenix Suns on Tuesday.

World-class Canadian freestyle skier Sarah Burke was in critical condition and sedated at a Salt Lake City hospital on Wednesday, a day after she was badly injured during a training run, doctors said.

Chevron Corp warned that fourth-quarter profit would be significantly below the previous quarter, with production still falling short of prior expectations and its refining operations about breaking even.

She's not even a week old, but the baby daughter of Beyonce and Jay-Z has become the youngest person ever to be credited on the U.S. Billboard chart.