IBT Staff Reporter

U.S. oil hovered below $70 on Thursday after closing at its lowest in almost two months the previous session following an unexpected rise in crude oil stocks in top consumer the United States.

The yen fell broadly and higher-yielding currencies strengthened on Thursday as calm returned to troubled credit markets and rising equities signaled increased investor appetite for risk.

Foreign sales of some Chinese products have been shaken by reports of dangerous goods, but the country's fast-rising exports show most consumers remain untroubled, senior Chinese officials said on Thursday.

Investors bought riskier assets on Thursday, lifting world stocks, emerging market debt and higher-yielding currencies as hopes increased that the worst of the recent credit market storm has blown over. Stock markets from Shanghai to London posted solid gains, with the Chinese bourse hitting another all-time high.

Shares of baseball card company Topps Co Inc fell 7 percent on Wednesday after hostile suitor Upper Deck Co. dropped its $417 million bid, leaving Topps with a $378 million offer from a buyout group and a firm led by former Walt Disney Co chief Michael Eisner.

Lower oil prices dented first-half earnings at oil giant PetroChina and offshore specialist CNOOC, but helped Asia's top refiner Sinopec, though rebounding crude prices may reverse their fortunes in the second half.

U.S. stocks rose on Wednesday as takeover activity resurfaced and credit markets stabilized, luring investors back into riskier assets such as equities.

Intuit Inc, maker of TurboTax software, named a new chief executive on Wednesday and posted a narrower loss for its fiscal fourth quarter, which is traditionally its weakest.

Argentina's July primary budget surplus widened 23 percent to 2.58 billion pesos ($804 million), due in part to pension contributions shifted to the state system, the government said on Wednesday.

Wendy's International Inc said on Wednesday it now expects to serve breakfast in nearly 750 of its restaurants in the United States and Canada by the end of the current third quarter.

Goth-inspired retailer Hot Topic Inc posted a second-quarter net loss on Wednesday that was nearly double its year-ago loss as sales at established stores declined.

Broadridge Financial Solutions Inc , which was spun off at the end of March by Automatic Data Processing Inc, said on Wednesday quarterly profit fell 2 percent, as expenses grew faster than revenue.

The Federal Reserve is hopeful it has bought enough time with moves to soothe jittery credit markets to hold off any cut to the benchmark federal funds rate before a September meeting, if any easing is necessary at all.

The U.S. mortgage and credit crisis deepened on Wednesday, as Accredited Home Lenders Holding Co, HSBC Holdings Plc and Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc announced a total of 3,400 job cuts, as concern mounted about the longer-term impact on the economy.

Oil fell on Wednesday after a government report showed U.S. crude inventories rose unexpectedly last week, easing supply concerns.

DaimlerChrysler has paved the way to rename itself Daimler AG by striking a deal with Ford Motor Co to use the name now owned by British brand Jaguar, the companies said on Wednesday.

The four largest U.S. banks, led by Citigroup and Bank of America Corp., took the unusual step of borrowing $2 billion directly from the Federal Reserve on Wednesday, as the Fed tries to stabilize tempestuous financial markets by adding money to the banking system.

Calling Hurricane Katrina a man-made disaster, the actor urged action for a faster recovery in New Orleans.

Investors weighed up on Wednesday the prospects of a near-term U.S. rate cut to calm a financial storm stemming from America's faltering home loan sector, as the European Central Bank moved to soothe money markets again. Indicating liquidity problems were far from over, the ECB said it would hold a tender to add 40 billion euros in 91-day funds to the euro money market on Thursday -- a technical measure aimed at supporting the normalisation of the market.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, which insures bank deposits, said on Wednesday it is closely monitoring credit markets and the biggest U.S. banks' balance sheets as troubled real estate loans rose 36 percent in the quarter ended June 30.

The Federal Reserve's attempts to provide liquidity in the past few days are not reaching the players who need it since they cannot borrow directly from the central bank, leaving the $7.2 trillion U.S. mortgage bond market struggling to clear the volumes being offered.

Japanese car maker Toyota Motor Corp is looking to launch a small car within two years, and the first production facility may be in India, its chairman said on Wednesday.

Tightening global credit markets have taken a toll on U.S. mortgage-backed securities issued by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and it will take more than recent Federal Reserve measures to boost liquidity.

Surging growth in international travel is driving revenue increases at the foreign units of U.S. online travel agencies and has spurred heated competition for a bigger slice of the lucrative and expanding market.

H&R Block Inc said on Wednesday its Block Financial Corp. unit tapped working capital credit lines twice as a skittish market cuts off its access to short-term debt financing.

Online brokerages TD Ameritrade Holding Corp and E*Trade Financial Corp have been in serious merger discussions for weeks but are not close to a deal, the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday, citing people familiar with the matter.

Shock losses at some of the world's biggest banks have left some people asking whether new global bank risk rules have failed their first test of fire.

Sharp Corp said it has developed the world's thinnest and lightest LCD TVs with enhanced picture quality, in a pre-emptive move before the release of organic light-emitting diode TVs, known for their thin displays and crisp images.

iRobot Corp, a robot maker that sells floor cleaners as well as devices that defuse bombs, introduced on Wednesday a new line of vacuums in hopes of generating cash to invest in a wider range of products.