UNITED STATES

Wells Fargo & Co said it expects to post a $3 billion first-quarter profit, sending its shares soaring, lifting a wide range of stocks, and providing a welcome jolt to the troubled banking sector.

Private equity house CVC Partners will pick up a rare commodity if it pulls off a purchase of Barclays' iShares exchange traded fund (ETF) unit, which analysts say has strong growth potential.

Oil rose above $52 a barrel on Thursday as rallies on global stock markets revived thoughts of economic recovery and subsequent increased demand for oil.

President Barack Obama set up an executive office for healthcare reform at the White House on Wednesday, saying the overhaul was one of the biggest priorities for the first year of his presidency.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will inaugurate the country's first nuclear fuel production complex later on Thursday, an Iranian official told Reuters.

The number of U.S. workers filing new claims for jobless aid fell last week, but the number of people on unemployment rolls surged to a record in March, data showed on Thursday, suggesting the labor market's decline has not yet hit bottom.

Wells Fargo & Co said on Thursday it expects to report net income of about $3 billion for the first quarter.

A U.S. Navy destroyer arrived off Somalia on Thursday to apply pressure for the release of an American ship captain taken hostage in the first seizure of U.S. citizens by increasingly bold pirates.

A pending asset sale and a clean bill of health from its financial regulator has calmed fears Barclays will need to raise cash, and backed up the bank's pledge to emerge as a victor from the financial crisis.

Dutch ING plans to sell operations worth up to 8 billion euros ($10.6 billion) to reduce risk, focus its bank on Europe, and manage its banking and insurance separately, boosting its shares on Thursday.

President Barack Obama's eight-day overseas trip yielded success on a top goal: signaling to the world a new U.S. approach that breaks with the go it alone style of President George W. Bush.

The downturn in the civil aerospace sector is expected to be more severe than previously estimated mainly due to a decline in world air traffic and global gross domestic product, said Goldman Sachs, which downgraded Rolls Royce Group by a notch to sell.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc on Thursday reported March same-store sales.

The German government offered 1.39 euros per share on Thursday for stricken lender Hypo Real Estate , a move which sets the stage for the first nationalization of a German bank in the postwar era.

Stock index futures pointed to a higher open on Thursday after Wells Fargo gave preliminary first-quarter results that were stronger than expected.

U.S. stock index futures pointed to a higher open on Wall Street on Thursday, with futures for the S&P 500 up 0.5 percent, Dow Jones futures up 0.5 percent and Nasdaq 100 futures up 0.4 percent at 4:37 a.m. EDT (0837 GMT).

U.S. stock index futures pointed to a higher open on Wall Street on Thursday, with futures for the S&P 500 up 0.5 percent, Dow Jones futures up 0.5 percent and Nasdaq 100 futures up 0.4 percent at 4:37 a.m. EDT (0837 GMT).

Wal-Mart Stores Inc reported a lower-than-expected 1.4 percent rise in March sales at U.S. stores open at least a year, but the discount retailer said it expected quarterly earnings to be at the high end of its forecast.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc reported a lower-than-expected 1.4 percent rise in March sales at U.S. stores open at least a year, but the discount retailer said it expected quarterly earnings to be at the high end of its forecast.

Stock index futures pointed to a higher open on Thursday after the New York Times reported the U.S. banking industry seems to be in better shape than many people think, citing officials involved in the federal stress tests.

Stock index futures pointed to a higher open on Thursday after Wells Fargo gave first quarter guidance and a New York Times report the U.S. banking industry seems to be in better shape than many people thought.