IBT Staff Reporter

Stocks fell on Thursday, interrupting a recent rally, as investors booked profits after weaker-than-expected housing data.

Wireless spectrum for smartphones, and how the Federal Communications Commission is dealing with the lack of it, are the major obstacles facing AT&T in the future, CEO Randall Stephenson said.

Valley National Bancorp's margins fell sequentially, prompting investor concerns about its profit growth in a low-rate environment, while its Northeastern peer First Niagara Financial managed to hold the line on its margins.

A New Zealand court granted bail on Thursday to two associates of the founder of online file-sharing website Megaupload, accused of being involved in a scheme that allegedly made more than $175 million from Internet piracy and illegal file sharing.

In late October, a deflated Julian Assange called a press conference in London to announce he may have to mothball WikiLeaks. The reason, he said, was money. Visa, MasterCard, Western Union, and Paypal were preventing supporters from donating to the organization, Assange explained. He warned that unless the bankers' blockade was lifted at once, the cash-strapped organization would soon die.

The price of gold was up 1.57 percent in afternoon trading to $1,726.8 while the price of silver is up 1.77 percent to $33.71.

The European Central Bank remains no closer to agreeing on whether or not it will take losses on the Greek bonds it owns, Eurozone central bank sources said on Thursday.

Netflix Inc won back Wall Street's affections on Thursday after adding more U.S. subscribers than expected in the fourth quarter, a rebound that prompted analyst upgrades and the company's biggest one-day stock jump in two years.

Below are highlights from Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's news conference following the Fed's policy meeting on Wednesday.

The World Economic Forum's signature closed-session on banking saw financiers increasingly hopeful that the euro zone's debt crisis can be resolved and confident of a deal to ensure Greece's now inevitable debt default will be orderly.

Wall Street dipped on Thursday as housing and financial stocks declined after weaker-than-expected housing data gave investors reason to pause after a recent rally.

American International Group Chairman Steve Miller said on Thursday the bailed-out insurance giant may eventually want to buy a life insurer outside the United States, including possibly a larger stake in the spun-off subsidiary AIA Group , as confidence in its turnaround grows.

Since the start of the year, one phrase has tripped off the lips of European leaders more than any other: jobs and growth. After two years of debt crisis and budget austerity, there is a strong desire to shift the narrative on.

Samsung Electronics Co, the world's top technology firm by revenue, will report record quarterly profit on Friday, powered by strong sales of its smartphones, but most interest will be in its 2012 spending plans and mobile sales numbers as it vies with Apple Inc for smartphone supremacy.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Thursday talks between the Greek government and its private creditors were on track but next Monday's EU summit would focus on how to boost growth and employment in Europe rather than Greece's predicament.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Thursday talks between the Greek government and its private creditors were on track but next Monday's EU summit would focus on how to boost growth and employment in Europe rather than Greece's predicament.

Online recruitment firm Monster Worldwide Inc forecast a weak start to the year and said it will cut jobs, as it does not expect the global job market to improve drastically in the near term.

Nokia Oyj reported a 73 percent fall in fourth-quarter earnings as sales of its new Windows Phones failed to dent the dominance of Apple Inc's iPhone or compensate for diving sales of its own old smartphones.

AT&T Inc posted a $6.7 billion quarterly loss as it was weighed down by a hefty break-up fee for its failed T-Mobile USA merger and other big charges on top of costly subsidies for smartphones such as Apple Inc's popular iPhone.

Wall Street edged loweron Thursday as housing and financial stocks lost ground after weaker-than-expected housing data gave investors reason to pause after a recent rally.

In just five years , Twitter has evolved from a 140-character punch line into a universal, all-purpose newswire, free and open to almost anyone, throbbing with the pulse of the planet in real time. It's where Newt Gingrich announced his presidential run, Prince William announced his engagement, and where the killing of Osama bin Laden was old news by the time President Obama announced it on telev...

With the British economy flat on its back, the Jaguar Land Rover factory in Birmingham, the second largest city in England, is doing something unusual: hiring. The company is doing well. With exports to China and other big emerging economies rising strongly, Britain's largest automotive manufacturer recently said it would hire another thousand workers and build a new engine plant, creating a fur...

AT&T Inc posted a $6.7 billion quarterly loss due to a hefty break-up fee for its failed T-Mobile USA merger and other charges on top of costly subsidies for smartphones such as Apple Inc's popular iPhone.

Online recruitment firm Monster Worldwide Inc said it will reduce its global workforce by about 7 percent and forecast a first-quarter profit below analysts' estimates amid a weak job market in the United States.

New orders for U.S. manufactured goods rose in December and a gauge of future business investment rebounded, showing the U.S. economy ended the year with more momentum than previously thought.

New orders for U.S. manufactured goods rose in December and a gauge of future business investment rebounded, showing the U.S. economy ended the year with more momentum than previously thought.

New single-family home sales unexpectedly fell in December for the first time in four months and the median home price dropped, dampening some of the hopes the housing sector will boost the economy this year.

3M Co reported higher-than-expected quarterly earnings on Thursday as demand from industrial and transport markets offset weak sales to makers of consumer electronics.

New U.S. claims for unemployment benefits rose last week, a government report showed on Thursday, but the underlying trend continued to point to improving labor market conditions.