MARKETS / FINANCE

Sprint (NYSE: S) fell 3 percent Thursday on the heels of the effective acquisition of MetroPCS Communications Inc. by an arm of Deutsche Telekom.

Dubai plans to build a huge replica of India's famed Taj Mahal, but it has no plans to honor the South Asian migrant workers who built its prosperity.

Political futures markets predicting the re-election of President Barack Obama saw a sharp jolt after the first presidential debate.

South Africa's wildcat strikes have shut mines and halted truck shipments and now idled a car factory.

After seven long years of litigation, Google Inc. and the Association of American Publishers have reached an agreement to settle over the search giant’s book-scanning project.

President Obama travels to Wisconsin as his campaign promises he will get aggressive during his next debate with Romney.

Anglo-Dutch consumer goods company Unilever is seeking a buyer for its Skippy peanut butter brand.

ECB President Mario Draghi Thursday said his bank's recent actions had worked, and pushed political leaders to get-a-move-on.

India’s cabinet Thursday approved a 49 percent Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in insurance and opened up the pension sector to the foreign companies, providing the much needed momentum to the Indian economy.

Facebook also announced that it has received more than 1.13 trillion 'Likes' since it launched the tool in February 2009.

Glu Mobile, Carnival Plc, ARM Holdings, Tesla Motors, Facebook, NuVasive, Frontline Ltd and BP Plc are among the companies whose shares are moving in pre-market trading Thursday.

Nobody alive on Oct. 4, 1957, will ever forget the launch of Sputnik 1, the first successful earth-orbiting satellite, by the Soviet Union.

Michael O'Leary, the ceo of Ryanair, is probably the most entertaining businessman in the world.

Asian stock markets advanced Thursday as better-than-expected economic reports from the U.S. buoyed sentiment.

The U.S. stock index futures point to a higher open Thursday as market sentiment was buoyed by the optimism that the economy is strengthening and monetary easing measures will further bolster the economic growth momentum.

Bombay Stock Exchange's Sensex crossed 19,000 points, its highest in 15 months, in morning trade Thursday on hopes of additional pro-reform decisions by the government and the strengthening rupee.

European markets rose Thursday ahead of the policy meeting of the European Central Bank amid hopes that Spain would soon seek a bailout to help reduce its borrowing costs.

The top after-market Nasdaq gainers Wednesday were Logitech International S.A, Carrizo Oil & Gas Inc, ACADIA Pharmaceuticals Inc, Tesla Motors, Inc and Kraft Foods Group Inc. The top after-market Nasdaq losers were NuVasive Inc, HMS Holdings Corp Inc, Idenix Pharmaceuticals Inc, Sarepta Therapeutics Inc and School Specialty Inc.

The top after-market NYSE gainers Wednesday were Greenbrier Companies, Yelp Inc, Nuveen Quality Preferred Income, Kraton Performance Polymers and Harmony Gold Mining Co Ltd. The top after-market NYSE losers were Avery Dennison Corp, Globus Medical, Globus Medical, Nu Skin Enterprises and GNC Holdings Inc.

Most of the Asian markets rose Thursday as investor sentiment turned positive by the upward trend of the U.S. economy following the encouraging jobs data and services activity index.

Asian shares steadied Thursday and the safe-haven dollar eased after positive U.S. data, leaving investors waiting for more economic indicators later in the day and a European Central Bank policy meeting.

It appears that Jim Lehrer may be the real debate loser, as many observers say he did a bad job of moderating the discussion between Obama and Romney.

Todd Akin's Senate campaign is standing by the congressman's allegation that women who are not pregnant are being tricked by physicians into obtaining abortions.

Eddy Cue, Apple’s SVP of Internet software, told a packed auditorium on Sept. 12 that a brand-new version of iTunes – iTunes 11 – would be released in late October; funny, a number of other reports are saying Apple plans to hold another media event around the same time to unveil a brand-new “mini” iPad. Could it be possible that these two events are actually one?

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un was reportedly refused a visit to China this year, which could have big implications for Beijing's policies in a changing region.

More than 6 million visitors are expected to attend Germany's 16-day festival in Munich.

South African poultry farmers charge that Brazil is exporting too many chicken into the country, threatening jobs and their livelihood.

John Cena is booked to return at WWE next week, just over three weeks after elbow surgery.