UNITED STATES

An Alaska Superior Court Judge has said he will rule by Friday on Senate candidate Joe Miller’s challenge to the apparently victorious write-in campaign of incumbent Sen. Lisa Murkowski.

Iran has temporarily released on bail a pioneering Iranian blogger who has been sentenced to more than 19 years in prison, a rights group said on Thursday.

Ford Motor Co will invest $600 million to overhaul a Kentucky plant to make the next generation of its Escape small SUV, in a sign of the gradual recovery for the U.S. auto industry from its near collapse in 2009.

New economic data on Thursday offered more signs the recovery was gaining traction, with claims for jobless benefits falling and wholesalers stocking up in anticipation of strong holiday demand.

The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq edged up on Thursday, hovering around two- and three-year highs respectively, but a recent rise in bond yields and uncertainty over tax-cut legislation unsettled investors.

Prime Minister Vladimir Putin attacked the United States on Thursday over secret U.S. diplomatic cables released by WikiLeaks, saying the West had no right to preach to Russia about democracy.

U.S. wholesale sales climbed at the sharpest rate in seven months during October and inventories kept rising strongly, according to a government report on Thursday that suggested optimism about a healthy holiday shopping season.

The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq edged up on Thursday, hovering around two-year highs, but a recent rise in bond yields and uncertainty over tax-cut legislation unsettled investors.

U.S. jobless claims fell more than expected during the week ended Dec. 4, providing some relief to the labor market that saw a rise in jobless rate in the week before, the Labor Department said.

Sprint Nextel Corp plans to expand its tablet computer portfolio in 2011 to court business customers looking to replace expensive laptop computers with the lower cost devices, according to a top executive for the No. 3 U.S. mobile operator.

The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq rose slightly on Thursday after encouraging data on the jobs market, but gains were limited by a stronger U.S. dollar.

China attacked the U.S. congressional resolution on convicted Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo, and urged U.S. policymakers to change arrogant and rude attitude. The country's foreign ministry maintained that Liu, who won this year's Nobel Peace Prize, was not arrested over his calls for democracy, but for the reason that he tried to destabilize the state. Meanwhile, the Nobel committee announced that as many as 18 countries have joined China in the boycott of the Oslo event.

Futures on major U.S. stock indices point to higher opening after the Department of Labor reported that weekly jobless claims declined last week.

U.S. homes are set to lose more than $1.7 trillion in value during 2010, bringing the total value lost since the market peaked in June 2006 to $9 trillion, which surpassed the cost of 12 Iraq wars, a report said.

For the first time, a private company has successfully launched a spacecraft to orbit and returned it to Earth.

The value of U.S. homes is expected to decline by more than $1.7 trillion during 2010, following a drop of more than $1 trillion in 2009, according to data from Zillow Real Estate Market Reports. Since the market peak of June 2006, U.S. housing has lost $9-trillion in value.

Insurance giant American International Group has signed a debt repayment deal with Federal Reserve Bank of New York, paving way for the Treasury Department to sell a significant stake in the company early next year.

State Street Corp , one of the world's biggest institutional investors, said it would post a fourth-quarter loss due to sales of $11 billion of securities, but the sales will enhance its capital ratios.

Despite a very strong jobs data early Thursday, the Austalian dollar looks less energized for a rally above Tuesday's high of 0.9964 to 1.0001, to complete the 'right shoulder' of a 'head and shoulders' pattern with 'head' at 1.0181 formed on November 5.

Fifty percent of cash register receipts and most dollar bills tested in a new study are coated with large quantities of toxic chemical Bisphenol A, or BPA, says a study.

Crude oil futures advanced on Thursday as dollar weakened against major foreign currencies and stock markets rose after better-than-expected Japanese economic growth.