UNITED STATES

The Swiss parliament has finally backed a treaty to give the U.S. government details of clients UBS AG helped dodge taxes, ending nearly a year of uncertainty that threatened the Swiss bank's recovery.

Two U.S. initial public offerings opened above their IPO prices on Thursday while a third cut its offering and delayed its pricing.

Factory activity growth plummeted in the Mid-Atlantic region in June, a survey showed on Thursday, adding to worries that the short and tepid U.S. economic recovery is now fizzling.

Kroger Co posted higher-than-expected quarterly earnings and backed its full-year outlook, holding its own amid heated competition from Wal-Mart Stores Inc and other grocery stores.

A broad rewrite of financial rules will make it tougher to get a mortgage, but Congress may not be going far enough to crack down on the easy home loans at the heart of the financial meltdown.

The euro climbed on Thursday to a three-week high against the U.S. dollar after a strong Spanish government bond sale soothed worries about the country's finances and triggered a squeeze in short positions.

Stocks dropped on Thursday on worries that the economic recovery was wilting after data showed growth in Mid-Atlantic factory activity braked and jobless claims rose unexpectedly.

New claims for jobless aid rose last week while consumer prices notched their largest decline in nearly 1-1/2 years in May, suggesting interest rates will remain ultra low to nurse the fragile economic recovery.

Oil recovered from earlier losses and rose toward $78 a barrel on Thursday, as concern over Spain's public finances eased in global markets following the results of its well-covered bond auction.

New claims for jobless aid rose last week while consumer prices notched their largest decline in nearly 1-1/2 years in May, suggesting interest rates will remain ultra low to nurse the fragile economic recovery.

The U.S. Federal Communications Commission is close to granting AT&T Inc approval for its $2.35 billion purchase of rural U.S. wireless licenses from rival Verizon Communications Inc affiliate Verizon Wireless, the Wall Street Journal said, citing people familiar with the matter.

Finger-pointing at the G20 will be self-defeating for an international forum that should be focused on coordination, not criticism, of economic policies, a senior Chinese government official said.

The euro hit a three-week high versus the dollar on Thursday as worries about Spain's public finances were eased by a well covered bond auction, triggering stop-losses on stale short positions in the single currency.

Oil trimmed earlier losses and was trading above $77 a barrel on Thursday, as anxiety over Spain's public finances eased in global markets following the results of its well covered bond auction.

Stock index futures rose on Thursday as anxiety eased over Spain's sovereign debt and investors awaited key jobs and economic activity data expected to show the recovery is slowly on track.

World stocks fell from this week's one-month high on Thursday and the euro and oil prices dropped as worries about Spain's public finances encouraged investors to cut back on risky assets.

Finger-pointing at the G20 will be self-defeating for an international forum that should be focused on coordination, not criticism, of economic policies, a senior Chinese government official said.

Oil retreated by 0.8 percent toward $77 on Thursday, slipping from its highest since early May, as the pace of demand growth was questioned following mixed economic and inventory data from top consumer the United States.

Asian shares fell and the euro slipped on Thursday as short covering rallies ran out of steam, but some analysts said global markets may have finally found support after a heavy selloff in May.

I believe markets and investors in particular are uncertain and have doubts or questions about European banks and that has been a wave in the last 4-6 weeks. The sooner European banks can on a coordinated basis ... publish results -- and I'm talking results of stress tests -- the better.

The euro slipped against the dollar on Thursday as worries about Spain's public finances and banking system hit sentiment, with results of a Spanish bond auction awaited.