MARKETS / FINANCE

A group of e-commerce start-ups, backed by some of the tech world's most pedigreed financiers, are betting that Facebook Inc can become an e-commerce powerhouse to rival Amazon.com Inc and eBay Inc.

Stock index futures pointed to a slightly higher open on Wall Street on Thursday with futures for the S&P 500 and Dow Jones up 0.3 percent, while Nasdaq 100 futures were up 0.1 percent at 4:08 a.m. EDT.

The Bank of England left its monetary policy on hold on Thursday, judging that no addition to its current stimulus was yet necessary as the economy looks to be stumbling back to growth.

Greece extended for a second time on Thursday a deadline for remaining bondholders to accept a debt swap, giving authorities more breathing space to formulate a response to investors who have refused to sign up for the landmark deal.

Yahoo Inc will lay off 2,000 people, or 14 percent of its workforce, in its deepest round of job cuts in years as new Chief Executive Scott Thompson tries to jumpstart growth with a leaner, more agile company while saving hundreds of millions of dollars.

It was a secret Valentine's Day mission involving only half a dozen Bank of Japan bureaucrats who worked through the weekend preparing for the central bank's February 13-14 meeting.

Rajesh Rao is among a handful of Indian entrepreneurs who may prevent the country's software industry from getting Bangalored.

The trustee seeking money for victims of Bernard Madoff's Ponzi scheme, who lost an estimated $20 billion, may pursue claims against wives of the imprisoned swindler's sons, a U.S. federal court judge said on Wednesday.

Sprint Nextel, the No.3 U.S. mobile service, is hoping to turn heads next month with the EVO 4G LTE, an HTC Corp phone with an advanced camera, a big screen, a high-speed wireless connection and crisper voice call quality.

Half a decade into the deepest U.S. housing crisis since the 1930s, many Americans are hoping the crisis is finally nearing its end. House sales are picking up across most of the country, the plunge in prices is slowing and attempts by lenders to claim back properties from struggling borrowers dropped by more than a third in 2011, hitting a four-year low.

Hedge fund manager Philip Falcone said in an interview on Wednesday he is seriously considering filing a voluntary bankruptcy for LightSquared, the struggling telecom startup in which his Harbinger Capital Partners is the majority owner.

Twitter, looking for better proximity to car companies with hefty ad budgets, said on Wednesday it will open an office in Detroit just as the city's elected leaders scramble to avoid bankruptcy or a state takeover.

Stocks fell for a second day on Wednesday as investors contemplated a world without monetary stimulus and a poorly received bond auction in Spain suggested the effects of Europe's funding operations were waning.

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission said on Wednesday that JPMorgan Chase & Co will pay $20 million to settle charges that it unlawfully handled customer segregated funds at Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc.

Michelle Obama will appear as a guest on The Colbert Report on Wednesday, April 11, following a number of talk show visits of late, including The Tonight Show With Jay Leno, Ellen and Late Night With Jimmy Fallon.

European Central Bank President Mario Draghi dismissed a German-led push for the bank to start planning a retreat from emergency crisis-fighting, but stressed it was keeping a close eye on price pressures.

Stocks fell for a second day on Wednesday as investors contemplated a world without monetary stimulus and a poorly received bond auction in Spain suggested the effects of Europe's funding operations were waning.

A new Federal Reserve study shows that foreign companies cross-listed on U.S. exchanges receive a disproportionate amount of investment from Americans, mostly because of greater transparency.

American International Group shares rose nearly 7 percent to a one-year high on Wednesday on news that it could reap billions of dollars from asset sales in the near future.

Now that Canadian telecommunications powerhouse Research in Motion (Nasdaq: RIMM) has a new boss and a new outlook, the BlackBerry developer is in play. Here are some prospective buyers.

General Motors Co is hoping a redesign of the Chevrolet Impala will end the car's reputation as a rental-lot staple and catch the eye of more retail customers. The Impala, a nameplate that was introduced in 1958, generated more than half of its sales last year from fleet customers. But the company says the 2014 model, with a quieter ride and cushy interior, will now attract showroom buyers.

European new car sales will decline for the fifth year in a row in 2012 to 13 million vehicles, Fiat Chief Executive Sergio Marchionne said on Wednesday, as the group moved a step closer towards a full-blown merger with U.S. automaker Chrysler.

Businesses added more than 200,000 jobs in March, giving fresh evidence of recovery in the labor market, data showed on Wednesday.

Stocks dropped for the second straight session on Wednesday, a day after minutes from the latest Federal Reserve meeting suggested further monetary stimulus was unlikely and a disappointing Spanish debt auction rekindled euro-zone concerns.

President Barack Obama called on Wednesday for stricter controls on lawmakers to confront the corrosive influence of money in Washington as he signed into law an insider trading ban he said was needed to help restore trust in the U.S. government.

Former Silicon Valley CEO Ben Nelson has two years and $25 million to transform higher education.

Stocks dropped on Wednesday for the second consecutive session as minutes from the latest Federal Reserve meeting published Tuesday suggested further monetary stimulus was unlikely and a disappointing Spanish debt auction reawakened euro zone concerns.

A collapse in gold producers lofty valuations has sparked soul searching about an exodus of restive shareholders, forcing them to tighten operations and boost dividends to lure investors.

Gold prices hit their lowest since early January on Wednesday as comments from the European Central Bank lifted the dollar to three-week highs against the euro, accelerating a fall sparked by declining expectations of more U.S. monetary easing.