The number of U.S. workers filing new claims for jobless insurance fell more-than-expected to a nine-month low last week, according to a government report on Thursday that suggested the labor market was healing despite a setback in September. Initial claims for state unemployment benefits dropped 33,000 to a seasonally adjusted 521,000 in the week ended
More
The Bank of England left interest rates at a record low of 0.5 percent for the seventh month running on Thursday and said it would keep its 175 billion pound asset buying programme in place. Focus will now switch to the November meeting when the Monetary Policy Committee will have new economic forecasts, though most
More
Britain's Lloyds Banking Group said it was still looking at ways to scale back or cancel its participation in a government-backed scheme to insure it against credit losses. Analysts and investors said, however, the part-nationalised bank would struggle to exit the asset protection scheme altogether and a lot would depend on the response of the
More
The European Central Bank is expected to keep interest rates at a record-low 1.0 percent on Thursday and its head Jean-Claude Trichet will probably caution against high hopes of a speedy economic recovery. The 16-country bloc is likely to have exited the worst recession since World War Two in the third quarter of the year
More
Gold hit a fresh record high on Thursday as the dollar struggled, while emerging market stocks climbed to their highest level this year. Wall Street looked set for a buoyant start and European shares were around 1 percent higher, essentially unmoved by the Bank of England and European Central Bank both keeping interest rates unchanged.
More
Britain's leading shares gained 0.9 percent early on Thursday led by strength in commodity and banking issues after Alcoa kicked off the U.S. third-quarter earnings season with a bang. At 0829 GMT the FTSE 100 was up 45.12 points at 5,154.02, with the market having paused for breath on Wednesday, closing down 29.08 points, or
More
* Futures for the Dow Jones industrial average, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq 100 rise 0.9 to 1 percent, pointing to a higher open on Wall Street on Thursday. * At 1230 GMT, Labor Department releases first-time claims for jobless benefits for the week ended Oct. 3. Economists in a Reuters survey forecast a
More
Dell Inc plans to launch a smartphone with Google's Android mobile software on carrier AT&T's network, a source said, marking the PC maker's first foray into a cut-throat U.S. cellphone arena. Dell will become the latest tech manufacturer to try and establish a footprint in a fast-growing market dominated by Apple and Research in Motion.
More
Text messaging can help smokers quit the habit, according to an international study. A review of four trials conducted in New Zealand, Britain and Norway, found that programs to help people stop smoking that included text-messaged advice doubled the chances that smokers would be able to kick the habit for up to a year. The
More
Oil rose above $70 a barrel on Thursday, retrieving some of the previous session's losses, supported by signs of global economic recovery and a weaker U.S. dollar. Oil dropped almost 2 percent on Wednesday after U.S. government data showed a larger-than-expected build in gasoline and distillate stocks last week, increasing doubts over the pace of
More