BUSINESS

The number of Americans lining up for new jobless benefits rose slightly more than expected last week, the Labor Department said Thursday, suggesting little improvement in the labor market.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE: WMT), the world's largest retailer, said Thursday increased sales from U.S. stores that have been open at least one year plus strong international sales lifted its fiscal third-quarter profit 5.7 percent.

India's leading carmaker Maruti Suzuki will restart production at its Manesar plant August 21, almost a month after the plant was shut down following violence by workers.

With the highly rumored September 12 release date of Apple's next gen iPhone, the so-called "iPhone 5," approaching fast, speculations concerning the 2012 version of the flagship smartphone have flooded the Internet over the last few months. Given the enormous buzz among people, it's pretty much sure that the device's sales, no matter how it finally launches - as "iPhone 5" or as the new iPhone, will touch new heights.

Gold prices are set for a 12th consecutive year of gains despite posting the largest quarterly drop since 2008 in the second quarter, a view likely shared by the World Gold Council, and billionaire investors George Soros and John Paulson.

Electronic Arts Inc, Coinstar Inc, Cisco Systems Inc, Netflix Inc, Frontline Ltd, Knight Capital Group Inc, Facebook Inc and Nokia Corp are among the companies whose shares are moving in pre-market trading Thursday.

Demand for gold by central banks and official sector institutions were more than double the level reported a year ago, as emerging market central banks continue to gobble up gold due to concerns about fiat currencies, such as the U.S. dollar and especially the euro, according to World Gold Council data released Thursday.

There comes a time in the life cycle of most commodities when China, home to 1.3 billion people and counting, takes over as the world's biggest consumer. For gold, that moment is drawing near.

In Botswana, diamonds have been key to the country’s successful economy -- proof that a valuable resource is only as good as the entities that handle it.

Thursday frees holders of as many as 271 million shares of Facebook (Nasdaq: FB), the No. 1 social networking site, to sell them for the first time since the first-day trading fiasco on May 18, when shares that had been priced at $38 first traded at $42.05, then didn’t trade for 30 minutes and closed at $38.23.

Two years after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke announced plans for a massive second round of monetary stimulus at a yearly Fed summit in Jackson Hole, Wyo., market watchers are beginning to take odds on the chances that his speech at this year's Jackson Hole summit could produce a similar announcement.

The Canadian Auto Workers and the Detroit Three, General Motors Company (NYSE: GM), Ford Motor Company (NYSE: F) and Chrysler Group LLC, began preliminary contract negotiations on Tuesday, and the fate of Canadian auto manufacturing may hang on the talks.

An Aeroflot passenger jet carrying 253 people from New York to Moscow Thursday made an emergency landing at Keflavik International Airport in Iceland after a bomb threat.

The demand for gold fell to its lowest level in two years in the second quarter of 2012, as the price rise along with the economic slowdown has deterred major consumers India and China from buying the yellow metal, the World Gold Council said on Thursday.

Microsoft released the final version of Windows 8 to MSDN and TechNet subscribers August 15. There is also a 90-day trial version for the general consumers.

U.S. stock index futures point to a slightly lower open Thursday ahead of the Labor Department's weekly jobless claims data and Census Bureau's reports on housing starts and building permits.

European markets were mixed Thursday as investors remained cautious waiting for policymakers to announce monetary easing measures which could stop the weakening of the euro zone economy and revive growth momentum.

The Indian rupee fell to a two-week low of 56.00/02 paise against the dollar in the morning trade Thursday, tracking the strengthening of the dollar in the global market. The dollar gained globally, chasing the upbeat U.S. data of retail sales which eased the concerns about the monetary control.

Expect a popular backlash if the government raises diesel prices to halt the subsidy drain on its finances - not only from the millions of poor who need cheap fuel but from increasing numbers of the well-off and businesses who don't.

Asian markets were mixed Thursday as investors maintained a watchful mode awaiting monetary easing measures from policymakers around the world to tackle the weakening of the global economic growth.

Asian shares steadied Thursday as investors took to the sidelines, waiting for more clues over the timing and extent of any further stimulus to tackle the euro zone's debt crisis and support global growth.

The upcoming “Mass Effect 3” DLC known as “Leviathan” has just been given a release date—August 28. On that day, the single-player expansion will roll out to PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and PC players.

With the national housing market showing signs of a rebound, analysts are saying shadow inventory might not be such a threat after all.

Cisco Systems (Nasdaq: CSCO) reproted fourth-quarter results that exceeded analyst estimates.

About the only things Americans seem to be eating when they go out are cheeseburgers, nacho platters, chicken sandwiches, curly fries and other fast-food fare.

Did the group American Atheists cross the line when it tried to mock Mormonism at the site of the upcoming Republican National Convention? Some sales executives in Tampa, Fla., think it did, at least according to American Atheists President David Silverman.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM)'s multibillion-dollar "London Whale" trading mess sent some well-known money managers running for the exit, but new regulatory filings show that several big hedge-fund players loaded up on JPMorgan as they saw the stock's 22 percent drop in the second quarter as a buying opportunity.

Any trial in U.S. District Court of the more than 50 shareholder lawsuits alleging fraud by Facebook (Nasdaq: FB), the No. 1 social networking site, and its underwriters could be as much as five months away, lawyers said.

John Wayne Gacy, Jr., who was convicted of sexually assaulting and murdering at least 33 young men and teenage boys in the 1970s, had apparently tried to get his case seen by a new lawyer that might help him find justice. On Wednesday, Reddit user "Shipyaad" submitted a photo of an aged, worn-down letter, allegedly written from Gacy to Mr. Luis Kutner, the famous lawyer and activist from Chicago who co-founded Amnesty International.