MARKETS / FINANCE

A special charge pushed Morgan Stanley into the red in the fourth quarter, but the Wall Street bank still posted better-than-expected results by cutting non- compensation costs, sending its shares higher.

Housing starts fell in December as groundbreaking on rental property posted a big decline, splashing some cold water on hopes the still-weak housing sector could boost economic growth this year.

Gold edged lower on Thursday as the euro's retreat from highs in the wake of U.S. economic data prompted some buyers to cash in gains in the precious metal after a three-day run higher took prices to their strongest since mid-December.

Influential U.S. online publisher Huffington Post Media Group has teamed up with L'Espresso on an Italian edition.

Stocks rose early Thursday, putting the S&P on track for its third straight advance after Bank of America and Morgan Stanley reported earnings and as strong demand at European bond auctions eased euro zone debt concerns.

Bank of America reported a fourth-quarter profit of $1.58 billion, or 15 cents a share, compared with a year-earlier loss of 16 cents a share.

Two years after it requested $500 billion to fight off a global slump, the International Monetary Fund's call for a further $600 billion to limit the fallout from Europe's debt crisis prompted supportive words from Brussels on Thursday but no stampede in the rest of the world to commit the cash.

Yuzhuralzoloto, Russia's fourth-largest gold miner, has revived a plan to place up to 25 percent of its shares in London as early as this spring, Russian daily Kommersant said on Thursday, citing the firm's chairman and banking sources.

Stocks edged higher at the open on Thursday after Bank of America and Morgan Stanley reported earnings and as strong demand at European bond auctions lessened euro zone debt concerns.

For Chinese shipping executive Ping Bo buying gold is the best way to protect his family's wealth and give his 10-year-old son a headstart into adulthood.

Stocks were set to rise at the open on Thursday after Bank of America and Morgan Stanley reported earnings and as strong demand at European bond auctions lessened euro zone debt concerns.

Long-suffering investors may wonder what to do with their Eastman Kodak shares now that the company has filed for bankruptcy in New York City.

The International Monetary Fund expects the euro zone economy to contract by 0.5 percent this year and warns that tensions arising from the bloc's debt crisis threaten global growth, Italian news agency ANSA reported on Thursday quoting a draft of the World Economic Outlook .

Eastman Kodak Co, which invented the hand-held camera and helped bring the world the first pictures from the moon, has filed for bankruptcy protection, capping a prolonged plunge for one of America's best-known companies.

New applications for unemployment benefits dropped to a near four-year low last week, a government report on Thursday showed, pointing to continued improvement in the labor market.

Stock index futures rose on Thursday after Bank of America and Morgan Stanley reported earnings and as strong demand at European bond auctions reflected improved risk appetite.

Four key technology giants are to report earnings Thursday. Intel, IBM, Google and Microsoft results may provide keys to 2012 progress, while Apple comes next week.

Greece and its bondholders have made little progress since resuming stalled talks on a debt swap, three sources close to the talks told Reuters on Thursday, with time to strike a deal and avoid a messy default running out rapidly.

Economic reforms in highly indebted Greece are coming along slowly, but the Greeks have made many sacrifices and people must be patient, the head of the European Commission's special task force to help rebuild the Greek economy said on Thursday.

Stock index futures pointed to a lower open on Wall Street on Thursday, with futures for the S&P 500, Dow Jones and Nasdaq 100 down 0.03 to 0.2 percent at 1004 GMT.

China's 2012 economic outlook has dimmed because of weakening export demand and a faltering housing market, and its central bank will probably try to spur more bank lending to prevent a steeper slump, a Reuters poll showed on Thursday.

Greece meets its private creditors on Thursday for a second day of bargaining on a crucial bond swap deal, with time running out for reaching a compromise needed to avoid an unruly default.

Large U.S. companies are facing fewer shareholder securities fraud lawsuits than at any other time in the last decade, a trend that may persist as fallout from the 2008 financial crisis recedes.

China is filling a lending vacuum in Asia as European banks limp home to preserve capital, and is making sure loans have spin-off benefits for Chinese manufacturers and exporters, even at the expense of the rates they offer.

Eastman Kodak Co is preparing to name a chief restructuring officer as it looks for ways to raise financing to keep the company in business during bankruptcy proceedings, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter.

China faces what could be its worst year of growth in a decade with policy firepower that developed nations can only dream of.

Global miner Rio Tinto is clear to take over Mongolia's coveted Oyu Tolgoi project, which promises to be one of the world's largest copper-gold mines, after project owner Ivanhoe Mines decided to scrap a controversial poison pill.

Prosecutors charged a computer programmer with stealing software code valued at nearly $10 million from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

Prosecutors charged a computer programmer with stealing software code valued at nearly $10 million from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.