World stocks bounced off this week's 3-1/2 month low on Thursday and credit markets stabilized as upbeat corporate earnings tempered worries about a global credit crunch which had prompted a sell-off of almost a fortnight.
Oil slid towards $76 on Thursday, deepening its descent from an all-time high the previous session as U.S. refiners raised fuel output to the highest level in nearly a year.
Mattel Inc. said on Thursday it expects the recall of Chinese-made toys, such as popular preschool characters like Sesame Street's Elmo and Big Bird, to result in a charge of $30 million.
Rescuers searched on Thursday for 20 people missing in a U.S. bridge collapse that sent vehicles tumbling several stories into the Mississippi River in an avalanche of concrete and steel that killed at least four, authorities said.
Strong cellphone demand in Asian emerging markets boosted Nokia Oyj's second-quarter sales and profits, sending its shares to their highest level in more than five years.
A top executive of Bear Stearns Cos., which has been hit by the collapse of two of its hedge funds and forced to halt redemptions at a third, shrugged off concerns about a global credit crunch on Thursday and said the recent market decline was healthy.
Manufacturing grew at a slower rate in July as a drop in new orders spawned caution among factory managers, and U.S. private employers probably added jobs last month at their slowest rate in four years, according to two reports on Wednesday.
Ford Motor Co and Chrysler Group posted weaker-than-expected U.S. sales for July on Wednesday, underscoring the pressure on auto sales from a weaker housing market and higher gas prices.
The Standard & Poor's 500 index slid in a highly erratic session on Wednesday, as concerns about worsening credit conditions persisted and a sharp downturn in the price of oil sent energy companies' shares lower.
Oil hit a new record high above $78 on Wednesday after a larger-than-expected drop in crude inventories in the United States.
The dollar rose against the yen on Wednesday, rebounding from earlier three-month lows in choppy trading, as the U.S. stock market steadied after its recent heavy losses.
Stocks fell and currency markets churned on worries about worsening credit markets and a move away from risky investments.
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown urged governments, businesses and volunteer groups on Tuesday to unite in a show of people power to put the world back on track toward slashing extreme poverty by 2015.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson brings his overtures for a faster rise in the yuan to Chinese President Hu Jintao on Wednesday, a day after the Bush administration warned that anti-China legislation in the U.S. Congress could provoke a global trade backlash.
Dow Chemical, the biggest U.S. chemical company, is considering making a bid for Britain's Imperial Chemical Industries, the Daily Telegraph newspaper said on Wednesday.
British Airways revealed the biggest fine in its history on Wednesday as it reached settlements with the U.S. and UK authorities for price fixing that could cost it up to 350 million pounds ($711 million).
News Corp. said on Wednesday that it would buy Dow Jones & Co Inc. for $5.6 billion, adding the Wall Street Journal to its worldwide media empire and ending a century of family ownership of one of the top U.S. business news sources.
'The golden dream by the sea' is how Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has fancifully described California. Yet for thousands who bought homes during the Golden State's latest housing boom, foreclosures have turned recent months into a nightmare.
Telecoms equipment maker Alcatel-Lucent produced a bigger-than-expected quarterly loss on Tuesday as merger costs and pricing pressures took their toll, sending its shares down as much as 9 percent.
Former Enron Corp. shareholders on Tuesday called on the White House to support their efforts to hold third parties accountable when their actions help a company defraud investors.
John Felderhof, the lone remaining key figure in the multibillion-dollar Bre-X gold fraud, was found not guilty on Tuesday of insider trading and misleading investors in the only prosecution brought in the greatest mining scam of all time.
Investors worry that deteriorating borrowing conditions will saddle lenders -- and not just Citigroup -- with too many soured investments.
