BUSINESS

Italy sold the top planned amount of 5 billion euros at a bond auction on Thursday, meeting sound demand ahead of a crucial sale of five- and 10-year paper on Monday.

Italy could turn out to be the investment bet of the decade if European Union leaders manage to contain the euro zone crisis.

Three years after the demise of Lehman Brothers exposed problems in how brokers handle client funds, trading firms are still using lax rules to withhold cash owed to clients of failed brokerages, fuelling calls for reforms.

NEC Corp said on Thursday it aims to shed 10,000 jobs by the end of September, and would fail to reach a target to raise sales to 4 trillion yen ($51.13 billion) by March 2013.

German consumer morale rose unexpectedly to a 10-month high going into February, a survey showed on Thursday, in the latest sign that consumption may support Europe's biggest economy through uncertain times.

The euro held firm against the dollar, while European shares and gold moved higher on Thursday, after the U.S. Federal Reserve set out an unambiguously easier policy stance, but fears of a messy Greek debt default still haunt the markets.

Greece's private creditors are willing to improve their final offer of a four percent interest rate on new Greek bonds in order to clinch a deal in time to avert a messy default, Greek media said on Thursday without quoting any sources.

From supermodel Kate Moss to actress Salma Hayek and Diane Kruger, some of the biggest names in the fashion and film industry were present at the private dinner event held by luxury brand Prada during the launch of its 24 Hours Museum in Paris.

The owner of Japan's stricken nuclear reactor, Tokyo Electric Power Co, will agree to be taken over by the government in a near-$13 billion bailout, sources said on Thursday, even as the country debates the future of nuclear power.

The futures regulator said on Wednesday that its spot check of major futures brokerages did not find any material breaches of protections for customer funds.

Increasing taxes on the wealthy would bring fairness to U.S. taxpayers across the board, billionaire investor Warren Buffett said on Wednesday, backing the tax reform that President Barack Obama proposed in his State of the Union address.

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said on Wednesday he would not expect to be asked to continue as Treasury chief if President Barack Obama wins re-election.

Symantec Corp, the top maker of computer security software, reported a higher quarterly profit and issued an outlook in line with Wall Street estimates.

Big profits from Apple and a promise from the Federal Reserve to keep rock-bottom rates for at least two more years powered the U.S. stock market higher on Wednesday.

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner sought to calm fears that the Obama administration's bank reforms were hostile to the U.S. financial industry, saying on Wednesday the reforms were tough where they need to be tough.

The European Central Bank has ruled out taking voluntary losses on its Greek bond holdings but is now debating how it would handle any forced losses and whether to explore legal options to avoid such a hit, central bank sources told Reuters on Wednesday.

Boeing Co said on Wednesday that a pension expense larger than Wall Street had anticipated would weigh on its 2012 earnings, but it handed investors good news with expectations for increased commercial aircraft deliveries this year.

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke signaled on Wednesday the central bank may consider further monetary easing, after the central bank announced interest rates would remain near zero until late 2014.

The arrival of the man known as the Warren Buffett of North on Research In Motion's board this week offers a ray of hope to the BlackBerry maker's impatient shareholders after their disappointment that an insider was named new chief executive.

Symantec Corp took the rare step of advising customers to stop using one of its products, saying its pcAnywhere software for accessing remote PCs is at increased risk of getting hacked after blueprints of that software were stolen.

The U.S. Federal Reserve on Wednesday said it will not raise interest rates until at least late 2014, even later than investors expected, in an effort to support a sluggish economic recovery.

Sometimes Maggie Smith worries that she may outlive her savings.

Following is the Federal Open Market Committee's statement on interest rate policy issued at the close of its meeting on Wednesday:

The U.S. Federal Reserve on Wednesday said it will not raise interest rates until at least late 2014, even later than investors expected, in an effort to support a sluggish economic recovery.

Merrill Lynch agreed to pay a $1 million fine for failing to arbitrate disputes with employees about retention bonuses related to its 2009 merger with Bank of America Corp , the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority said on Wednesday.

Beyond Oblivion, a digital music startup backed by Rupert Murdoch's News Corp and investment bank Allen & Co Director Stanley Shuman has filed for bankruptcy protection after spending millions of dollars building a service that never saw the light of day.

Global growth is slowing rapidly and the possibility of ample economic slack means risks of damaging deflation are rising in some G20 member economies, the International Monetary Fund said in a paper published on Wednesday.

- HSBC Holdings PLC is under investigation by a U.S. Senate panel in a money-laundering inquiry, the latest step in a long-running U.S. effort to halt shadowy money flows through global banks, according to people familiar with the situation and a company securities filing.

Capital markets in 2012 are better than they were in 2011, Morgan Stanley Chief Executive James Gorman said on Wednesday, adding that his bank is in a very good position for Basel III standards.