IBT Staff Reporter

Oil prices jumped 14 percent to top $39 a barrel on Thursday after U.S. government data showed an unexpected fall in crude inventories last week due to lower imports and higher demand. The draw snapped a seven-week streak of crude builds in the world's top consumer, where the slumping economy has dragged down fuel use. U.S. crude futures for March delivery, which expires on Friday, rose $4.86 t...

Oil prices jumped more than 12 percent to near $39 a barrel on Thursday after U.S. government data showed an unexpected fall in crude inventories last week due to lower imports. The draw snapped a seven-week streak of crude builds in the world's top consumer, where the slumping economy has dragged down fuel demand. U.S. crude futures for March delivery, which expires on Friday, rose $4.24 to $3...

As the relentless downturn in the economy drives shoppers to buy less and hold out for extreme deals, U.S. department store operators can wave goodbye to any marked improvement in their fortunes before 2010. And when shoppers are ready to head back into stores, department store companies will have to highlight attractive products and tempting prices to snag sales, analysts and experts said. From...

The number of U.S. workers drawing unemployment aid jumped to a record high of nearly 5 million, the government said on Thursday, as a worsening economy made it increasingly hard to find jobs. The data from early February suggested the 13-month-old U.S. recession was deepening, a conclusion supported by a report that showed factory activity in the country's Mid-Atlantic region contracted sharply...

Stocks fell in choppy trading on Thursday, putting the Dow within striking distance of fresh bear-market lows as investors fretted over the deteriorating economy and the fate of ailing financials. Reports showing a record high in the number of workers continuing to claim jobless benefits in the first week of February and sharp contraction in factory activity in the Mid-Atlantic region depicted an...

the design and manipulation of materials thousands of times smaller than the width of a human hair. Nanotechnology has been hailed as a way to make strong, lightweight materials, better cosmetics and even tastier food. We have demonstrated that we can make important technologies that are significantly smaller than existing devices, Jeremy Levy of the University of Pittsburgh said in a statem...

Citigroup Inc shares fell to almost 18-year lows on Thursday, with Bank of America Corp stock also plunging, amid renewed fears that growing losses could lead to government control of troubled U.S. banks, wiping out shareholders.

Stocks trimmed losses with the S&P 500 briefly turning positive in choppy trade on Thursday as gains in energy and telecom shares offset declines in banks amid persistent worries over the recession-hit economy. Chevron was the Dow's biggest boost as the price of oil jumped after government data showed a surprise fall in crude inventories last week. On the downside, banks dragg...

Bold official action to tackle the U.S. recession will restore growth later this year but the Federal Reserve can still do more if a recovery fails to appear, a top Fed policy-maker said on Thursday. If forecasts of improvement don't materialize, the Fed is not without capacity to act, even with the fed funds rate at its lower bound, Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta President Dennis Lockhart ...

Zimbabwe is engaging South Africa over using its neighbour's rand currency to boost foreign exchange liquidity, Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai said on Thursday.

The U.S. government sued UBS AG on Thursday, seeking disclosure to the Internal Revenue Service of thousands of the Swiss bank's U.S. customers with secret accounts, the Justice Department said.

Sprint Nextel Corp posted a fourth-quarter loss as 1.3 million subscribers left its mobile phone service, but the results were not as bad as some had feared and its shares rose 28 percent. The No. 3 U.S. mobile company, whose share price has plunged 70 percent in the past year as it has struggled with customer defections, said on Thursday it expected subscriber losses to narrow in 200...

Two Italian nuns kidnapped by Somali gunmen in a cross-border raid into Kenya in November have been freed.

Citigroup Inc shares fell to 17-year lows on Thursday, with Bank of America Corp stock also plunging, amid renewed fears that growing losses could lead to government control of troubled U.S. banks, wiping out shareholders.

Stocks fell in choppy trading on Thursday as the latest signs of labor market weakness and worries over the fate of major banks cut off a round of bargain-hunting and drove bank stocks to a 17-year low. The Dow industrials fell to within striking distance of fresh bear market lows. The U.S. economy, stuck deep in recession, was hit by reports that showed the number of workers continuing to claim...

The U.S. government sued Swiss banking giant UBS AG on Thursday, asking a federal court to order UBS to disclose to the Internal Revenue Service the identities of the bank's U.S. customers with secret Swiss accounts, the Justice Department said. According to the lawsuit, as many as 52,000 U.S. customers hid their UBS accounts from the government in violation of tax laws, the department said. Th...

Iran has considerably slowed down the expansion of its contested uranium enrichment program, said a confidential International Atomic Energy Agency report obtained by Reuters on Thursday.

Facebook's efforts to build a business model around its online social network have hit another roadblock, as a backlash by its users forced the company to reverse a new policy.

U.S. stocks fell to session lows on Thursday as shares of major banks, including Bank of America ,skidded, and further deterioration in the labor market added to worries about the deepening recession. Bank of America dropped 12.47 percent to $4 on the New York Stock Exchange, while Citigroup tumbled 11.3 percent to $2.58. Uncertainty about how the Obama administration w...

Coca-Cola Co. said on Thursday that it was raising its quarterly dividend by 8 percent to 41 cents a share from 38 cents.

Scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology are testing the Green Wheel, a system that can power a bike with electricity and can be installed on any bike frame or wheel size.

U.S., Latin American and European investigators widened probes on Thursday into the far-flung financial empire of Texas billionaire Allen Stanford, accused of massive fraud, and Venezuela seized one of his banks.

Oil rose more than $2 to above $37 on Thursday after United States government crude inventory data showed an unexpected fall in U.S. crude stocks. Data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration showed U.S. weekly crude stockpiles were off 200,000 barrels at 350.6 million barrels, against a forecast rise of 3 million barrels. A day ahead of expiry, U.S. crude futures for March delivery ros...

Procter & Gamble Co said on Thursday it will continue to sell products at a wide variety of price points to keep consumers interested in its brands during the recession. We are focused on how consumers define value, regardless of the economic situation they're in, Chairman and Chief Executive A.G. Lafley said at the Consumer Analyst Group of New York conference in Boca Raton...

CVS Caremark Corp posted a higher quarterly profit on Thursday, helped by growth in its pharmacy services and retail drugstore units, and said it expected more market share gains, sending its shares up 7 percent. The company stood by its profit forecasts for the current first quarter and full-year 2009. Chief Financial Officer Dave Rickard will retire at the end of this year, and C...

would be to find future vehicles that match the Saturn brand: fuel-efficient, safe, reliable and affordable, Lajdziak said. From a retailing perspective, we would build on our core strength of unmatched customer service, she said. GM created Saturn in 1984 in a bid to compete head-on with Japanese vehicles for quality and customer service. The first Saturn dealerships opened in 1990 and ...

Stocks were little changed on Thursday as a fresh dose of data pointing to more labor market weakness offset a search for beaten-down shares and optimism spurred by Nestle's strong results. A government report showed that the number of U.S. workers continuing to claim jobless benefits jumped to a record in the first week of February. That was followed by a report showing factory...

North Korea accused the United States of planning a nuclear attack in a report which came as Secretary of State Hillary Clinton flew to Seoul for talks on defusing Pyongyang's military threat.

Benjamin Netanyahu's chances of becoming Israel's prime minister were boosted on Thursday by the conditional backing of an ultranationalist politician who emerged as a kingmaker in a photo-finish election.