IBT Staff Reporter

The outlook for the U.S. economy has brightened, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said on Thursday, though he warned that growth this year won't be strong enough to bring down the jobless rate as speedily as policy makers would like.

A number of states are altering electricity prices to make people use less, but that may have the effect of discouraging people from buying plug-in vehicles, according to a study from Purdue University.

Ultimate Software Group Inc said it has no current plans to sell itself, following a Reuters report that the cloud-computing company had hired an investment bank to consider a sale.

U.S. regulators are putting together a possible antitrust challenge to Google Inc's planned $700 million acquisition of airline ticketing software company ITA Software, sources knowledgeable about the deal said on Thursday.

Global competitiveness in the U.S. telecom and media sector will hinge on making more airwaves available to keep pace with the booming wireless market, government and industry officials agreed on Wednesday.

The euro zone faces short-term price pressures which could linger, the European Central Bank said on Thursday, showing it is ready to raise interest rates if needed although it expects inflation should be contained.

A U.S. judge approved a $7.2 billion settlement on Thursday to pay former customers of the Madoff firm, the largest yet in the worldwide search for money lost in Bernard Madoff's multibillion-dollar Ponzi scheme.

SAP said software sales jumped by about a third in the fourth quarter, boosting operating margins and sending its shares higher despite uncertainty over U.S. litigation. Europe's biggest software maker said on Thursday it expected operating income of more than 3.9 billion euros ($1.98 billion) for 2010, which would push its operating margin to 31.5 percent from 27.4 percent in 2009, when not usin...

Jobless claims jumped to their highest level since October last week while food and energy costs lifted producer prices in December, pointing to headwinds for an economy that has shown fresh vigor.

The Dow industrials fell on Thursday, hurt by a slide in Merck shares, but the market was near 28-month highs as investors saw stocks' upward trend continuing despite disappointing jobless claims data.

The U.S. trade deficit narrowed unexpectedly in November as exports climbed to the highest level in more than two years, government data showed on Thursday.

The U.S. economy should grow around 3 percent to 4 percent this year, a healthier clip than in 2010, but not enough to bring down unemployment as much as policymakers would like, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said on Thursday.

U.S. regulators are putting together a possible antitrust challenge to Google Inc's planned $700 million acquisition of airline ticketing software company ITA Software, sources knowledgeable about the deal said on Thursday.

Russian prosecutors requested an inquiry into a telecom website that gives visitors a chance to shoot a cartoon likeness of President Dmitry Medvedev, a spokeswoman said on Thursday.

The risk of deflation, a damaging downward spiral of falling prices and lower wages, has declined in recent months, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said on Thursday.

The Kenyan shilling KES= edged up against the dollar on the back of higher coffee and tea prices at auctions this week, but signs of a drought in the country could limit the currency's gains, traders said on Thursday.

SAP said software sales jumped by about a third in the fourth quarter, boosting operating margins and sending its share higher, despite continued uncertainty over U.S. litigation.

The U.S. economy should grow around 3 percent to 4 percent this year, a healthier clip than 2010, but not enough to bring down unemployment as much as policymakers would like, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said on Thursday.

China is providing a $350 million concessionary loan to build a multi-lane toll road linking Uganda's capital with the country's Entebbe airport, 54 km (34 miles) away, Ugandan officials said on Thursday.

South African blue-chip stocks booked another 2-1/2-year closing high on Thursday, rising 0.6 percent as shares of Anglo Platinum and other resource companies continued their recent run.

Ethiopia has penalised retailers and suppliers in the capital who raised the prices of consumer goods such as bread by amounts higher than caps set in January, authorities said on Thursday.

Oil prices at $100 a barrel would not harm the world economy and there is no need for OPEC to hold an emergency meeting or add supplies, Libya's top oil official said on Thursday.

Sales of mobile handsets in Russia are estimated to have risen by 25 percent in units last year, but the market value lagged as the average selling price declined, Russia's top mobile operator MTS said.

Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc said it will take longer than expected to win approval of its bankruptcy reorganization plan as it tries to settle differences with creditors, who are owed well over $300 billion.

David Kernell, 23, the former University of Tennessee student convicted of hacking into Sarah Palin's e-mail account, has begun his term in a dormitory-like, unfenced federal prison, a Bureau of Prisons spokesman said on Thursday.

Anglo Platinum, the world's top producer of platinum, said on Thursday full-year profit likely rose as much as seven-fold, helped by higher metal prices.

The stockbroking arm of South Africa's Standard Bank is looking to boost its headcount, including equity analysts, following the end of a joint venture with Credit Suisse, senior executives said on Thursday.

Three Bulgarian helicopter crew members contracted to the U.N. World Food Programme were kidnapped in Darfur on Thursday, officials said, the latest in a wave of abductions hindering aid in Sudan's war-torn region.

The United Nations' human rights chief raised the alarm on Thursday over a suspected third mass grave in Ivory Coast, as tensions remained high in the main city Abidjan after deadly clashes between rival camps.