IBT Staff Reporter

Oil plunged nearly 7 percent on Thursday, heading for the biggest daily drop in dollar terms since the 2008 financial crisis, as concerns about economic growth and monetary tightening clobbered commodities.

The Treasury and banks working on the sale of the government's stake in bailed-out insurer American International Group are too early in the process to come up with specific numbers for a potential offering, a source close to the situation said on Thursday.

The first PlayStation phone, Sony Ericsson's Xperia Play, is not affected by the massive data breach of PlayStation user accounts, the phone maker said on Thursday.

The Dow and S&P 500 dipped on Thursday after a weak labor market report, but losses were capped as a steep drop in oil prices was seen helping consumers.

American Idol contestant Haley Reinhart stunned the judges Wednesday when performing House of the Rising Sun by Animals.

The Treasury and the banks working on the sale of the government's stake in bailed-out insurer American International Group are at odds over how low to price the first sale of stock, CNBC reported on Thursday.

U.S. retailers warned of rising costs and cautious consumers even as a late Easter boosted sales of clothing and other holiday-related items in April, helping many beat sales expectations.

Shares of General Motors Co fell as much as 4.7 percent on Thursday as investor concerns over weak pricing at the No. 1 U.S. automaker outweighed a giant leap in quarterly net profit.

Portugal signed up to a tough but fair 78-billion-euro international bailout plan on Thursday which will send it into recession for two years with a recovery only likely in 2013, European Union and IMF officials said.

Facebook and Google Inc are separately considering a tie-up with Skype after the Web video conferencing service delayed its initial public offering, two sources with direct knowledge of the discussions told Reuters .

Faltering economic growth and edginess about the impact of costly oil fueled a fourth day of aggressive selling across commodities as Brent crude headed to its biggest weekly fall in a year while silver extended an historic slide.

Sprint is taking its battle against the merger of AT&T and T-Mobile to the state public utility commissions, and plans to file a formal protest to the Federal Communications Commission.

A pictorial of Alan Shepard, the first American in space as NASA celebrates the 50th anniversary of his famous trip.

European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet signaled on Thursday that euro zone interest rates are unlikely to rise next month but left the door firmly open for an increase in July.

In the wake of the financial crisis, regulators are strengthening their ability to spot fault lines in the financial system, rather than focusing exclusively on specific companies, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said on Thursday.

Cisco Systems Inc will streamline its sales, services, and engineering organizations and refocus around five growth markets, in a significant restructuring at a company which had admitted it lost its way.

Oil plunged nearly 6 percent on Thursday, headed for the biggest four-day loss in a year, sparked by a sell-off across commodities markets on mounting worry about the economy, interest rates and demand.

U.S. stocks were set for a lower open on Thursday as weak labor data rekindled concerns about the strength of the consumer and the economic recovery.

Prince William and Kate Middleton to visit the United States

The number of Americans filing for jobless aid rose to an eight-month high last week and productivity growth slowed in the first quarter, clouding the outlook for an economy that is struggling to gain speed.

New U.S. claims for unemployment aid unexpectedly rose last week to touch their highest level in eight months, pushed up by factors ranging from spring break layoffs to the introduction of an emergency benefits program, a government report showed on Thursday.

The Bank of England kept its key interest rate at 0.5 percent on Thursday, in a widely expected move after a run of subdued data which has cast doubt on the strength of Britain's economic recovery.

NASA is celebrating the 50th anniversary of Alan Shepard becoming the first American into space.

General Motors Co is expected to report on Thursday first-quarter operating earnings more than double a year earlier, driven by a recovery in the U.S. market and strong sales in Asia.

An orbiting satellite, conducting a joint experiment of NASA and Stanford University, has shown that the Earth's gravity warps the space around it and that it drags spacetime itself along as it spins -- proving that a fundamental part of Relativity theory is correct.

Digital technology company Yudu launched a service on Thursday to help magazine publishers evade the 30 percent commission that Apple charges to deliver content to iPhones and iPads through its App Store.

Hollywood paid tribute to a timeless, beautiful actress: Sophia Loren. Hollywood stars came out to honor her 50 years after she became the first person to win an acting Oscar for a foreign-language role with the Italian movie Two Women.

U.S. stocks fell for the fourth straight session on Thursday as weak labor data rekindled worries about consumer demand and the strength of the economic recovery.

U.S. retailers warned of rising costs and cautious consumers even as a late Easter boosted sales of clothing and other holiday-related items in April, helping many beat sales expectations.