IBT Staff Reporter

The Swiss parliament has finally backed a treaty to give the U.S. government details of clients UBS AG helped dodge taxes, ending nearly a year of uncertainty that threatened the Swiss bank's recovery.

Two U.S. initial public offerings opened above their IPO prices on Thursday while a third cut its offering and delayed its pricing.

Stocks slipped on Thursday as data on regional factory activity and jobless claims underscored worries about the pace of the economic recovery.

Factory activity growth plummeted in the Mid-Atlantic region in June, a survey showed on Thursday, adding to worries that the short and tepid U.S. economic recovery is now fizzling.

Kroger Co posted higher-than-expected quarterly earnings and backed its full-year outlook, holding its own amid heated competition from Wal-Mart Stores Inc and other grocery stores.

A broad rewrite of financial rules will make it tougher to get a mortgage, but Congress may not be going far enough to crack down on the easy home loans at the heart of the financial meltdown.

Mortgage rates held steady at or near record lows in the latest week, home funding company Freddie Mac said on Thursday, with new housing data indicating market momentum is muted.

The number of workers filing new applications for unemployment insurance unexpectedly rose last week as the manufacturing, construction and education sectors shed employees, adding to worries that the economic recovery is slowing.

The following are comments by European Union leaders and other officials on Thursday in Brussels, where they were holding a summit to discuss economic governance. EU PRESIDENT HERMAN VAN ROMPUY We agreed that the so-called stress tests of the banks will be published at the latest in the second half of July.

The euro climbed on Thursday to a three-week high against the U.S. dollar after a strong Spanish government bond sale soothed worries about the country's finances and triggered a squeeze in short positions.

Stocks dropped on Thursday on worries that the economic recovery was wilting after data showed growth in Mid-Atlantic factory activity braked and jobless claims rose unexpectedly.

Brazil's economy will grow solidly in 2010, but a slowdown from the first quarter will allow the government to bring inflation back to target by year-end, Finance Minister Guido Mantega said on Thursday.

New claims for jobless aid rose last week while consumer prices notched their largest decline in nearly 1-1/2 years in May, suggesting interest rates will remain ultra low to nurse the fragile economic recovery.

Oil recovered from earlier losses and rose toward $78 a barrel on Thursday, as concern over Spain's public finances eased in global markets following the results of its well-covered bond auction.

Web.com Group Inc said it agreed to acquire privately-held domain name registration provider Register.com for $135 million, in a deal that will immediately add to the online marketing company's adjusted earnings.

New claims for jobless aid rose last week while consumer prices notched their largest decline in nearly 1-1/2 years in May, suggesting interest rates will remain ultra low to nurse the fragile economic recovery.

The U.S. Federal Communications Commission is close to granting AT&T Inc approval for its $2.35 billion purchase of rural U.S. wireless licenses from rival Verizon Communications Inc affiliate Verizon Wireless, the Wall Street Journal said, citing people familiar with the matter.

European Union leaders moved toward agreement on Thursday on ways to strengthen budget discipline and economic policy coordination among the 27 member states to contain a euro zone debt crisis.

Finger-pointing at the G20 will be self-defeating for an international forum that should be focused on coordination, not criticism, of economic policies, a senior Chinese government official said.

Spain may use as much as 30 billion euros of its Fund for Orderly Bank Restructuring to cover the financing needs of its banks, the Economy Minister Elena Salgado said on Thursday. The FROB, created to help the banking sector, can issue up to 99 billion euros to aid credit institutions.

Yields on Brazilian interest rate futures contracts rose in early trading on Thursday, after the central bank said that the country's economic growth is putting a benign inflation outlook at risk.

The euro hit a three-week high versus the dollar on Thursday as worries about Spain's public finances were eased by a well covered bond auction, triggering stop-losses on stale short positions in the single currency.

Oil trimmed earlier losses and was trading above $77 a barrel on Thursday, as anxiety over Spain's public finances eased in global markets following the results of its well covered bond auction.

Consumer prices recorded their biggest decline in nearly 1-1/2 years in May as energy costs dropped, according to a government report on Thursday that pointed to tame inflation pressures and low interest rates.

The recent gold surge has increased the prospects of gold financers to get outside funding in the form of private equities to carry forward their expansion plans.

It looks rising price of gold is leading to a decline in the export of gold jewellery exports from India. Gold jewellery exports plunged 36.44 percent (40 percent rupee term) over the comparative figure of US$ 732.11 million (rupees 3,552.92 crores) for May 2009.

Controversial documentary film The Cove, which deals with the grizzly business of dolphin hunting, will be made available to Japanese viewers online via a popular video sharing website.

Stock index futures rose on Thursday as anxiety eased over Spain's sovereign debt and investors awaited key jobs and economic activity data expected to show the recovery is slowly on track.

European Union leaders hope to agree on ways to strengthen budget discipline and economic policy coordination on Thursday to show financial markets they can prevent a repeat of the euro zone debt crisis.