IBT Staff Reporter

Stocks slipped on Thursday after an unexpected rise in first-time claims for jobless benefits underscored concerns that the recovery in the labor market will be slow.

Retailers posted July sales below analysts' expectations after cutting prices to attract shoppers worried about high unemployment, a strategy that bodes ill for the back-to-school season.

The U.S. Export-Import Bank said on Thursday it approved a loan guarantee for Ford Motor Co to finance $3.1 billion in exports of cars and trucks to customers in Canada and Mexico.

Germany's luxury carmaker BMW expects its China car sales to rise more than 30 percent this year, boosted by the country's robust economic growth

India's Mahindra & Mahindra is planning bid up to $400 million for troubled South Korean automaker Ssangyong Motor, sources said, as it seeks to become a major global utility vehicles maker.

The announcement that a search for a successor to Ratan Tata, chairman of the Tata group, has begun was every bit as understated as the man who has steered India's second-biggest conglomerate for nearly two decades.

India's top car maker Maruti Suzuki may manufacture cars for German auto firm Volkswagen's global market on a contract basis, three newspapers said on Thursday, citing Maruti's managing director.

It is too early to declare victory over the financial crisis despite stronger than expected data suggesting the euro zone recovery is outstripping expectations, the European Central Bank said on Thursday.

BP started pumping cement on Thursday into its blown-out Gulf of Mexico well as it moved to permanently kill the source of the world's worst marine oil spill.

Lebanon will assess security concerns relating to the use of BlackBerry phones, the telecom regulator said on Thursday, making it the latest country to raise worries over the smartphone devices.

Stocks were set for a weak open on Thursday after data showed first-time claims for jobless benefits rose unexpectedly, underscoring ahead of Friday's key jobs report the hurdles facing a recovery in the labor market.

Time Warner Cable Inc posted a higher-than-expected second-quarter profit on Thursday after adding more Internet and phone subscribers.

Shares in BP hit two-month highs on Thursday on hopes the group would soon permanently seal its Gulf of Mexico oil well and after President Obama said the battle to contain the leak was nearly over.

Stock index futures dipped on Thursday as investors took a cautious track ahead of data on first-time jobless claims, a precursor to the monthly jobs report due later in the week.

The European Central Bank kept euro zone interest rates at 1 percent as expected on Thursday, teeing up what should be an upbeat news conference with the bank's President following a strong run of economic data.

Cigna Corp posted a far higher-than-expected second-quarter profit on Thursday, helped by better performance in its main health insurance business, and the company raised its full-year forecast.

International inspectors on Thursday applauded Greece's efforts to exit its debt crisis, endorsing a fresh 9 billion euro payment from an EU/IMF bailout scheme, but urged reforms in energy, banking and the public sector.

Verizon Communications Inc and Google Inc agreed to a deal over how Internet traffic will be treated, two people familiar with the agreement said on Wednesday.

China's banking regulator has ordered lenders to test the impact of a fall in house prices of up to 50 percent in key cities where prices have risen sharply, banking and regulatory sources said on Thursday.

Retailers posted July sales below analysts' expectations in the latest sign that skittishness about high unemployment and the economy in general are causing consumers to cut spending and focus on essentials.

At the most basic level, weight loss comes from cutting calories and exercising more. But there are certain unhealthy eating habits that also factor into our ability to do these two things.

Wheat markets raced to fresh highs on Thursday, with Chicago wheat trading limit-up, as Russia announced a halt to grain exports from next week in response to a drought that has withered crops. Russia's worst drought on record has devastated crops in parts of the country and sent international grain prices soaring as markets have speculated on restricted supply from one of the world's leading exporters.

Oil prices fell for a second day on Thursday toward $82 a barrel after a jump in U.S. jobless claims and rising oil product inventories stoked doubts about the pace of fuel demand recovery in the top consumer.

Longer-dated U.S. Treasury debt prices rose in Europe on bargain-hunting after a retreat the previous session following positive U.S. data. * Traders said some investors were also inclined to take long positions before key non-farm payrolls data due on Friday which bond bulls expect to support expectations that the Fed will adopt more quantitative easing measures.

About 90 percent of young to middle-aged Americans have antibodies against the mumps virus -- a level of immunity that is at the low end of what's needed to prevent significant outbreaks of the infection, a government study finds.

A scan of all the human DNA has turned up 95 genes that affect blood cholesterol, including a few affected by drugs on the market and others that might be the basis of new drugs, researchers said on Wednesday.

Stock index futures edged higher on Thursday as investors took a cautious track ahead of the morning's labor data, a precursor to Friday's monthly jobs report.

Higher than expected profits from Barclays and Commerzbank failed to dispel concerns over the underlying health of Europe's top banks on Thursday.

The U.S. Export-Import Bank will unveil a loan guarantee on Thursday for Ford Motor Co that will finance $3.1 billion in exports of cars and trucks to customers in Canada and Mexico, a White House official said.