IBT Staff Reporter

Stock index futures pointed to a quiet open for Wall Street on Thursday, with futures for the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones up 0.1 percent, and Nasdaq futures down 0.1 percent at 4:34 a.m. ET.

World stocks fell and oil surged above $103 a barrel on Thursday as violence in Egypt escalated, adding to concerns about inflationary pressures which could threaten the global economic recovery.

Strong demand in India and improving conditions in Europe helped Vodafone , the world's largest mobile operator by revenue, to nudge its outlook higher and post third-quarter service revenues at the upper end of forecasts.

Deutsche Bank said it remained confident it would meet 2011 targets after packing a raft of restructuring charges into fourth-quarter earnings.

He will join his 'Inception' director in the Batman movie

Sony Corp's operating profit fell 5.9 percent in October-December, hurt by a stronger yen and tough price competition in the market for flat TVs, although it beat analysts' expectations.

British telecommunications company BT Group plc reported its highest share of DSL broadband net additions for eight years and said pretax profit for the third quarter more than doubled from last year.

Japan's Sony Corp <6758.T> is expected to post a 15 percent fall in profit for October-December on Thursday, hurt by a stronger yen and tough price competition in the market for flat TVs.

Japan's Sony Corp <6758.T> posted a 5.9 percent fall in October-December operating profit on Thursday as a price war hit its television unit and a stronger yen weighed, but it beat analysts' expectations.

Canadian schools and colleges will soon stop worrying about adding books to its libraries, as they will have access to thousands of eBooks from Random House of Canada through a partnership with OverDrive.

Anderson Cooper, Christiane Amanpour had to flee when the mob turned on them

Japan's Sharp Corp posted a near tripling in nine-month operating profit on a jump in television sales ahead of the reduction of government subsidies in its home market, and kept its annual outlook unchanged.

Japan's Sony Corp posted a 5.9 percent fall in October-December operating profit on Thursday as a price war hit its television unit and a stronger yen weighed, but it beat analysts' expectations.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Wednesday arrested former telecoms minister Andimuthu Raja over a massive graft scam, officials said, a huge blow for Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and efforts to pass bills in the parliamentary budget session.

Oil prices surged past $103 on Thursday as pro-democracy protests in Egypt turned violent, while commodities markets raced even higher, adding to worries of mounting inflationary pressures could threaten the global economic recovery.

Business activity in India's services sector grew at a faster clip in January than in the previous month, boosted by new orders and expectations of solid growth, but costs also soared, a survey showed on Thursday.

Japan's Sony Corp posted a 5.9 percent fall in third-quarter profit on Thursday as a price war hit its TV unit and a stronger yen weighed, and lowered its revenue forecast on slower-than-expected TV sales.

Japan's Sony Corp posted a 5.9 percent fall in third-quarter profit on Thursday as a price war hit its TV unit and a stronger yen weighed, and lowered its revenue forecast on slower-than-expected TV sales.

Japan's Sony Corp posted a 5.9 percent fall in third-quarter profit on Thursday as a price war hit its TV unit and a stronger yen weighed, and lowered its revenue forecast on slower-than-expected TV sales.

The internet is running out of IP addresses in few hours from now. The last five blocks of IP each with 16.8 million addresses, are to be distributed on Thursday by the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority to regional registries around the world, according to Associated Press reports.

A member of the Viagra-fueled Italian government led by Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi was caught ogling at escort girl's website on his iPad during a no-confidence debate on Wednesday.

Prosecutors assisted by whistleblowers are widening an investigation into whether banks overcharged public pension funds in the United States by tens of millions of dollars for foreign-exchange transactions, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Japanese stocks eased on Thursday as escalating violence in Egypt prompted investors to move to safer assets, while commodities extended their recent gains, underscoring growing inflationary pressures that could threaten the global economic recovery.

Private equity-backed pipeline company Kinder Morgan is expected to file terms for its initial public offering before U.S. markets open on Thursday, a source familiar with the situation said.

Retailers will shed light on the impact of inclement weather on their initial spring sales when they report figures for January on Thursday.

U.S. Senators on Wednesday defeated a bill to repeal last year's landmark healthcare bill, as Republican party members came up short against the Democratic majority. The vote was 47-51.

News Corp and Time Warner both posted higher revenue and profit in the December quarter, boosted by surging advertising revenue at their cable network units.

Viacom is returning popular comedy shows The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and The Colbert Report to online video service Hulu in a deal that will also make other programs available to paying subscribers.

Visa Inc's quarterly profit rose 16 percent, slightly beating expectations, as consumer spending ramped up and the company processed more transactions abroad.