IBT Staff Reporter

The U.S. trade deficit narrowed unexpectedly in February as exports hit a record high, imports from China and other key suppliers declined and oil import volume fell to the lowest in 15 years, a government report showed on Thursday.

The relentless decline in home prices is nearing an end and prices should rise for the first time in seven years in 2013, but a possible new wave of foreclosures could threaten the recovery, according a Reuters poll of economists.

Producer prices were unexpectedly flat in March as a drop in gasoline costs offset rising food prices, according to a government report on Thursday that also showed moderate underlying inflation pressures.

Stocks were set to rise slightly at the open on Thursday after futures pared gains following an unexpected rise in initial jobless claims in the latest week.

Facebook's willingness to pay $1 billion to buy the 12-person start-up Instagram has Silicon Valley venture capitalists happily re-doing their math on the potential value of hot young companies.

New claims for unemployment benefits rose last week to their highest level since January, a development that could raise fears the labor market recovery was stalling after job creation slowed in March.

Facebook's willingness to pay $1 billion to buy the 12-person start-up Instagram has Silicon Valley venture capitalists happily re-doing their math on the potential value of hot young companies.

Stock index futures edged higher on Thursday ahead of data on the jobs market and producer prices, while a tick down in benchmark bond yields in Italy and Spain signaled easing concern about the euro zone's debt troubles.

Less than a fortnight into his job as CEO, Kazuo Hirai sketched out a strategy to revive Sony Corp: a major push into smartphones, growth in games and cameras, and big cost cuts in a TV business that has not made a profit in eight years.

Stock index futures edged higher on Thursday ahead of data on the jobs market and producer prices, while a rise in Italian borrowing costs could cap gains in equities and pressure other risk assets lower.

Stock index futures edged higher on Thursday ahead of data on the jobs market and producer prices, while a rise in Italian borrowing costs could cap gains in equities and pressure other risk assets lower.

Stock index futures edged higher on Thursday ahead of data on the jobs market and producer prices, while a rise in Italian borrowing costs could cap gains in equities and pressure other risk assets lower.

The disappointing performance of the U.S. labor market in March shows it is too early to conclude the economy is out of the woods, despite months of encouraging economic data, New York Federal Reserve Bank president William Dudley said on Thursday.

Stock index futures pointed to a higher open on Wall Street on Thursday, with futures for the S&P 500 up 0.55 percent, Dow Jones futures up 0.42 percent and Nasdaq 100 futures up 0.59 percent at 3:34 a.m. EDT (0734 GMT).

Stock index futures pointed to a higher open on Wall Street on Thursday, with futures for the S&P 500 up 0.55 percent, Dow Jones futures up 0.42 percent and Nasdaq 100 futures up 0.59 percent at 3:34 a.m. EDT (0734 GMT).

Groupon Inc, the online coupon company that floated just months ago in the strongest IPO in years, has had recurring accounting problems that critics say show a need for more financial sophistication on its board.

Less than a fortnight into his job as CEO, Kazuo Hirai on Thursday sketched out a revival strategy for Sony Corp built around mobile electronics - phones, games and cameras - and a medical business with annual sales of $1.2 billion.

Japan's government stuck to its assessment that the economy is slowly recovering on Thursday but raised its view on exports, saying overseas shipments are showing signs of stabilizing on a moderate pickup in the United States and some return in Asian demand.

Less than a fortnight into his job as CEO, Kazuo Hirai on Thursday sketched out a revival strategy for Sony Corp built around mobile electronics - phones, games and cameras - and a medical business with annual sales of $1.2 billion.

The World Bank cut its forecast for China's 2012 economic growth to 8.2 percent on Thursday and said a rebound might not begin before the third quarter of the year as slack foreign demand and a government-induced real estate slowdown restrain a recovery.

Emboldened energy market regulators are mounting an aggressive new campaign to stamp out a once-common trading practice that crosses physical and paper markets, unnerving traders who fear a backlash over years-old deals.

Chen Lifeng's dress-making company survived the global financial crisis yet may fall victim to today's milder economic slowdown, one that China deems necessary to secure its future growth.

U.S. economic activity kept growing moderately in the late winter months but rising energy prices were beginning to worry manufacturers and retailers across the country, the Federal Reserve said on Wednesday.

The trustee liquidating MF Global's brokerage will ask a bankruptcy court on Thursday to release $685 million to former MF Global customers, a plan already introduced in court filings that has been criticized as neglecting affiliates of the failed firm.

U.S. securities regulators are preparing to announce that Goldman Sachs will pay $22 million to settle allegations the bank did not have adequate policies to prevent research from being passed inappropriately to preferred clients, people familiar with the matter said on Wednesday.

The cybersecurity community raked Apple Inc over the coals on Wednesday, saying the company had dragged its heels on eradicating malware that experts say may have infected up to 600,000 Macintosh computers and can be used to ferret out sensitive user information.

NEW YORK (TheWrap.com) - Brian Farnham, editor in chief of AOL's hyper-local Patch venture, has resigned.

Microsoft Corp said on Wednesday it won a ruling in a Seattle court effectively preventing phone company Motorola Mobility from immediately obtaining an injunction in Germany that could stop Microsoft from selling its Xbox and other software products there, due to a patent disagreement.

North Korea is poised to launch its first satellite into orbit; the U.S. says it is a missile test in disguise. And tensions in northeast Asia are high as the North, an impoverished but nuclear-armed nation, engages in saber-rattling ahead of the launch.