IBT Staff Reporter

U.S. economic growth showed signs of becoming more self-sustaining as the number of Americans claiming new jobless benefits fell back to a four-year low last week and manufacturing activity in the Northeast picked up this month.

The S&P 500 index hit 1,400 for the first time in four years on Thursday as a strong run of economic data continues to cement a strong uptrend in equity markets.

A Chicago-based consultant on Thursday pleaded guilty to trading on confidential information about private-equity firm Carlyle Group's planned acquisition of vitamin company NBTY Inc.

China has suspended the purchase of 10 more Airbus jets, two people familiar with the matter said on Thursday, raising the stakes in a potentially damaging trade row over European Union airline emissions charges.

Britain has decided to cooperate with the United States in a bilateral agreement to release strategic oil stocks, two British sources said, in an effort to prevent high fuel prices derailing economic growth in a election year.

Britain should not delay too long kick-starting the sale of its shares in Royal Bank of Scotland , the chief executive of RBS said, as speculation grows that the government could sell an initial stake at a loss.

The International Monetary Fund on Thursday approved a 28 billion euro ($36.7 billion) bailout for Greece, part of a broader international rescue package for the debt-strapped euro zone member.

The International Monetary Fund on Thursday approved a 28 billion euro ($36.7 billion) bailout for Greece, part of a broader international rescue package for the debt-strapped euro zone member.

The S&P 500 index continued to rally toward the 1,400 level and was on course to post its best week in over a month on Thursday after data showed the U.S. economy continuing to improve.

A federal appeals court stopped just short of throwing out a judge's controversial rejection of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's $285 million settlement with Citigroup Inc in a fraud case.

Greg Smith was a principled and competitive student, the kind of person whose strong sense of right and wrong probably pushed him to resign from Goldman Sachs in a scathing letter to an international newspaper, his former teacher and coach said.

BBC Director General Mark Thompson announced proposals for an iTunes-style download service that would allow viewers to permanently download their favorite programs minutes after they have been broadcast for a fee.

Every couple of weeks it's nice to look back and see just how far Apple has come.

The pace of factory activity in the U.S. Mid-Atlantic region improved in March, though new orders slowed, a survey showed on Thursday.

Oil company BP said it was investigating possible impropriety after a whistleblower sent a letter making serious allegations to Chief Executive Bob Dudley.

Stocks edged higher on Thursday, putting the benchmark S&P 500 index on track for its sixth advance in the last seven sessions as a round of economic data pointed to a slowly improving domestic economy.

Goldman Sachs faced an unprecedented assault from one of its own on Wednesday after a banker published a withering resignation letter in the New York Times, calling the Wall Street titan a toxic place where managing directors referred to their own clients as muppets.

For novelists, the days of sending manuscripts to dozens of publishers and anxiously awaiting a reply may soon be over.

Apple Inc's new iPad went on sale in Australia early on Friday, greeted by throngs of fans hungry to get hold of the U.S. consumer giant's latest, 4G-ready tablet computer.

The number of Americans claiming new jobless benefits fell back to a four-year low last week and manufacturing in the Northeast held up in March, providing more signs the economy was firmly on a self-sustaining growth path.

Greece's jobless rate rose to a fresh quarterly record of 20.7 percent in the last three months of 2011, reflecting the country's deep economic malaise, exacerbated by austerity to repair public finances and emerge from a debt crisis.

Stock index futures advanced on Thursday, indicating the S&P 500 may resume its march higher ahead of data on the labor market and a report on regional manufacturing.

Finland's government is forcing the country's flag carrier Finnair to overhaul its board after a scandal over executives' benefits, a minister said on Thursday.

Russia's biggest lender Sberbank plans to start a roadshow for the sale of a $6 billion government stake on April 16, in a move that underscores its arrival as a major player in a European industry decimated by the global financial crisis.

China's fifth-largest lender, Bank of Communications Co Ltd , will raise $8.9 billion to meet tighter capital requirements by placing shares with existing shareholders such as HSBC and the country's finance ministry.

UBS paid U.S. brokerage chief Robert McCann nearly 9.2 million Swiss francs ($9.9 million) overall last year, with the executive usurping investment banking head Carsten Kengeter as the Swiss bank's highest earner.

European shares traded near eight-month highs on Thursday as a brighter global economic outlook fuelled investor risk appetite, underpinning the dollar and reducing the appeal of safe-haven government debt.

Fire marshal Karen Alward thought of her 2008 Chevrolet Tahoe as a resort on wheels until gasoline prices changed her attitude toward the hulking SUV.

European shares opened near five-month highs as a brighter global economic outlook fuelled investor risk appetite, underpinning the dollar and reducing the appeal of safe-haven government debt.