IBT Staff Reporter

The European Commission expects a formal request from Portugal for aid soon and a deal will probably be agreed to ease its debt crisis before a new government is elected on June 5, officials said on Thursday.

New claims for unemployment benefits fell slightly more than expected last week, pointing to firming labor market conditions.

U.S. stocks edged up in choppy trading on Thursday, helped by jobless claims and same-store sales data, but technical resistance to further gains was strong.

March was not as bad as expected for U.S. retailers, at least as far as initial sales reports show, suggesting that shoppers largely ignored higher gasoline prices and other concerns to treat themselves.

Elpida Memory Inc said on Thursday it has developed a 4-gigabit DRAM chip for smart phones, joining bigger rival Samsung Electronics as the only producers of the large capacity power-saving memory chip.

The European Central Bank raised interest rates by 25 basis points to 1.25 percent on Thursday, announcing its first hike since July 2008 to counter firming inflation pressures in the 17-country euro zone.

The European Central Bank raised its key interest rate by 25 basis points to 1.25 percent on Thursday, tightening policy as expected to counter firming price pressures in the 17-country euro zone.

Reports have surfaced that Matt Lauer, host of the Today show will step down from his position at the NBC morning show.

The European Central Bank raised interest rates for the first time since the 2008 financial crisis on Thursday but signaled it was not necessarily the start of a series of similar steps.

A month ahead of the title's launch, Rockstar games has released a new round of screenshots of the anticipated game.

Wall Street stocks were set to open slightly higher on Thursday as positive labor market and same-store sales data brightened the outlook for consumer spending, a pillar of the U.S. economy.

A shareholder with only $1,551 in stock has accused Cisco execs of misleading the market.

World trade will grow by 6.5 percent this year, the World Trade Organization said on Thursday, above the average rate between 1990 and 2008 of 6 percent, but falling short of last year's dramatic rebound.

President Barack Obama said late Wednesday that averting a shutdown of the federal government will require sufficient urgency from all parties involved as negotiating House and Senate teams worked throughout the night to reach a package deal to pass a federal budget and non-budget policy elements by a midnight Friday deadline.

Large financial firms should be allowed to fail or they will continue to take excess risks that lead to crises, Richmond Federal Reserve President Jeffrey Lacker said on Thursday.

Rite Aid Corp's sales at its established drugstores rose over the most recent quarter but the company forecast another loss this fiscal year despite the expectation of further sales gains.

Brent crude futures dipped on Thursday after five days of gains, hovering around $122 a barrel on concerns that strong prices could crimp demand, with the European Central Bank lifting rates to control inflation.

New U.S. claims for unemployment benefits fell slightly more than expected last week, according to a government report on Thursday that pointed to firming labor market conditions.

After the release of her book Bossypants which received raving reviews, People.com is reporting that the 30 Rock actress is pregnant with her second child.

President Barack Obama and leaders in Congress will attempt to reach a spending-cut deal on Thursday that would avert a dangerous government shutdown at week's end.

The European Central Bank raised interest rates by 25 basis points to 1.25 percent on Thursday, announcing its first hike since July 2008 to counter firming inflation pressures in the 17-country euro zone.

Brent crude futures dipped on Thursday after five days of gains, slipping under $122 a barrel on concerns that strong prices could crimp demand and as some central banks start moving to control inflation.

U.S. stock index futures were little changed on Thursday before data on the labor market and same-store sales, which could offer clues about the outlook for U.S. consumer spending.

March was not as bad as expected for U.S. retailers, at least as far as initial sales reports show, suggesting that shoppers largely ignored higher gasoline prices and other concerns to treat themselves.

The European Central Bank is poised to raise interest rates from a record low 1.0 percent on Thursday and more is likely to follow but, fearful of heaping more pain on the euro zone's stragglers, it will give few clues about when the next move will come.

Moody's cut its credit rating on Nokia, citing the Finnish mobile phone company's weakening market position and uncertainty over its transition to Microsoft's Windows Phone software.

Close on the heels of the launch of her new book 'Bossypants' that chronicles her experience as a working mom, '30 Rock' star Tina Fey has announced that she is pregnant with her second child.

Music czar Apple Inc has ordered as much as 12 Petabytes (12PB) of storage from Isilion Systems, a company that specializes in scaled storage to support its iTunes video service, according to report citing an inside source.

Google's vice president and head of Android Andy Rubin answers the accusations made against the software in his blog.