IBT Staff Reporter

Any quick return to record Dutch chemical production volumes and sales is unlikely given the uncertain outlook, a sector association said on Thursday.

Singapore budget carrier Tiger Airways, 49 percent owned by Singapore Airlines, has tapped three banks for an initial public offering expected in January, sources said on Thursday.

Japan's Sony Corp said it is enjoying robust demand for its PlayStation 3 game console and other electronic products so far in this holiday shopping season in the key U.S. market.

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, making a case for a second term on Thursday, offered a forceful defense of the U.S. central bank's crisis-battling efforts, which he said prevented an even greater calamity.

Google Inc is not to blame for the news industry's problems but is committed to playing a role in helping struggling publishers survive the transition to the online age, CEO Eric Schmidt said.

U.S. stocks pared gains in early trading on Thursday, with the Dow industrials turning negative, after data showed the services sector unexpectedly contracted in November after two months of expansion.

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner on Thursday said it was vital to get U.S. budget deficits down in order to spur private-sector growth that creates jobs and predicted it will begin happening in 2011.

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, making a case for a second term, told Congress on Thursday the U.S. central bank's forceful actions prevented a devastating financial crisis from being even worse.

Google Inc is not to blame for the news industry's problems but is committed to playing a role in helping struggling publishers survive the transition to the online age, CEO Eric Schmidt said.

The European Central Bank kept rates at a record low of 1 percent as expected on Thursday, leaving markets firmly focused on how it plans to handle the delicate process of phasing out its financial crisis support.

Chinese solar-cell maker Canadian Solar Inc said it intends to build a 200 megawatt module manufacturing facility in Ontario at an estimated cost of C$24 million ($22.9 million), sending its shares up 9 percent.

The European Central Bank kept its main interest rate on hold at a record low of 1 percent for the seventh month running on Thursday, as expected by economists. Markets are now turning their attention to President Jean-Claude Trichet's news conference at 1330 GMT, when he will release new staff economic forecasts and is widely expected to give further details on how the ECB will start phasing out...

The benchmark price for European Union carbon emissions futures rose almost 3 percent toward a three-week high on Thursday as banks increased buying ahead of a U.N. climate summit next week, traders said.

Some 10 million people across the European Union have now been vaccinated against H1N1 swine flu and so far no unexpected serious safety issues have been identified, the region's drugs watchdog said on Thursday.

Congressional efforts to revamp the U.S. healthcare system are not enough to stem soaring health costs or close the nation's budget gap, a top Obama administration official said on Wednesday, adding that current bills must be strengthened to help rein in spending.

German industrial conglomerate Siemens took a big fourth quarter writedown on its struggling network joint venture with Nokia and warned of lower operating profits and possible restructuring in 2010.

Corporate executives expect a value-added tax to be considered by the U.S. Congress in the next five years, according to a survey by tax and accounting firm KPMG released on Thursday.

Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd will reintroduce legislation for a cap and trade scheme to cut the country's carbon emissions, he told reporters on Thursday, in the hope of pushing the stymied laws through a hostile senate.

Small or slow-growing nodules discovered on a lung scan are unlikely to develop into tumors over the next two years, researchers reported on Wednesday.

Republicans argued on Wednesday that recommendations advising against routine mammograms for women in their 40s could be used to ration healthcare under reform legislation before Congress, a charge Democrats denied.

Singapore, a Southeast Asian city-state with high per-capita emissions, will head to global climate talks next week with a pledge to cut carbon pollution by 16 percent versus projected business-as-usual levels by 2020.

Maternal deaths in developing countries could be slashed by 70 percent and newborn deaths cut by nearly half if investment in family planning and pregnancy care was doubled, the United Nations said Thursday.

The U.S. government approved the first 13 batches of human embryonic stem cells on Wednesday, enabling researchers using them to get millions of dollars in federal funding as promised by President Barack Obama in March.

Most Americans would like to see a public option in health insurance reform but doubt anything Congress does will lower costs or improve care in the short term, according to a poll released on Thursday.

Luxury homebuilder Toll Brothers Inc reported a wider-than-expected quarterly loss on Thursday as homebuilding revenue slumped and it wrote down the value of its land holdings.

New applications for U.S. jobless benefits unexpectedly fell last week to the lowest level in more than 14 months, suggesting a labor market edging toward stability, while productivity was less robust in the third quarter.

U.S. retailers from Macy's to Costco posted much weaker-than-expected sales for November as shoppers focused only on big bargains at the start of the key holiday selling season.

U.S. stock indexes pointed to a higher open on Thursday after Bank of America Corp said it would repay $45 billion in taxpayer bailout funds and data showed initial jobless claims fell last week.

The European Commission said on Thursday it had appealed against a successful court challenge by Poland and Estonia to their carbon quotas.