UNITED STATES

Stock index futures pointed to a flat to lower open on Thursday after consumer bellwether Wal-Mart reported flat quarterly profits and as investors awaited producer price and jobless data for insight into the state of the economy.

China rejected claims it has manipulated yuan exchange rate policies to tilt trade flows against the United States, saying on Thursday that proposed legislation before the U.S. Congress could stoke protectionism.

Oil fell below $57 a barrel on Thursday after the International Energy Agency said global oil consumption will fall this year at the fastest rate since 1981.

World stocks fell for a fourth straight day on Thursday while the low-yielding dollar and yen advanced as weak U.S. retail sales data prompted investors to cut back on risky assets after their nine-week rally.

Oil prices fell toward $57 a barrel on Thursday, after a 1-percent plus decline the previous day, as equity markets slipped, weighing on optimism for economic recovery and energy demand.

U.S. regulators have recommended filing a civil fraud suit against Countrywide Financial co-founder Angelo Mozilo for insider trading, the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday.

Documents made public on Wednesday confirm former U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson gave nine major banks no choice but to allow the government to take equity stakes in them as the Bush administration moved to address turmoil in the financial industry.

Asian stocks took a hit on Thursday as weak U.S. retail sales underscored the long road to economic recovery, prompting profit-taking on winning bets in equities, higher-yielding currencies and commodities over the past two months.

Asian stocks fell on Thursday as weak U.S. retail sales highlighted the long road to economic recovery, prompting profit-taking on winning bets in equities, higher-yielding currencies and commodities over the past two months.

Documents made public on Wednesday confirm former U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson gave nine major banks no choice but to allow the government to take equity stakes in them as the Bush administration moved to address turmoil in the financial industry.

Oil prices fell below $58 a barrel on Thursday, after a 1-percent plus decline the previous day, as equity markets slipped, weighing on optimism for economic recovery and energy demand.

The Obama administration is looking into ways it could change the way financial companies compensate employees, according to a report.

A new survey conducted by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and the University of North Carolina's Kenan-Flagler Business School indicates that pessimism about the U.S. among accounting professionals has eased.

Japan's Nikkei average fell 2.1 percent on Thursday as exporters slid on a firmer yen and renewed concerns about the U.S. economy, while Nikon Corp tumbled after it forecast its first annual operating loss in 11 years.

U.S. regulators have recommended filing a civil fraud suit against Countrywide Financial co-founder Angelo Mozilo for insider trading, the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday.

The Obama administration moved on Wednesday to exert more control over the shadowy over-the-counter derivatives market, now closely linked to the global credit crisis.

A day after saying big U.S. banks probably needed to raise only one-fourth the capital demanded by the government, Standard & Poor's said the nation's banking crisis has merely entered a new phase and might not end before 2013.

Online classified site Craigslist will replace its erotic services ads with a new adult category following pressure by state authorities after the murder of a masseuse who advertised on the site.

The Obama administration plans to regulate sophisticated financial instruments linked to last year's market turmoil by requiring standardized over-the-counter derivatives to be cleared through central clearinghouses, two congressional staff workers told Reuters on Wednesday.

U.S. officials are looking at ways to force reforms in financial industry compensation practices to discourage excessive risk-taking, which is considered to have sown the seeds of the current credit crisis.

U.S. agricultural processor and ethanol producer Archer Daniels Midland Co said on Wednesday it expected the U.S. ethanol blend rate to rise to 12 percent by 2010, up from the current allowed maximum of 10 percent.