IBT Staff Reporter

- The Euro has pulled back from intra-day high at 1.4348 to test support at 1.4285 on the back of Trichet call to patience and prudence, on his Press release after the Bank announced its decision to keep its benchmark interest rate at 1.0%.

LG Electronics Inc, the world's third-largest mobile phone maker, said on Thursday it would launch three new smartphones in the next few weeks that run on Windows software.

LG Electronics Inc, the world's third-largest mobile phone maker, said on Thursday it would launch three new smartphones in the next few weeks that run on Windows software.

Japan's Dainippon Sumitomo Pharma Co Ltd plans to offer about $2.7 billion to acquire U.S. drugmaker Sepracor Inc, a source said, in a move that it would give it a much needed U.S. sales force.

Pfizer Inc agreed on Wednesday to plead guilty to a U.S. criminal charge relating to promotion of its now-withdrawn Bextra pain medicine and will pay a record $2.3 billion to settle allegations it improperly marketed 13 medicines.

Federal Reserve policy-makers last month believed risks to the U.S. economy had eased considerably and discussed stretching out a program that has held down home loan rates.

Oil was steady above $68 on Thursday, after settling unchanged a day earlier, as a steep fall in U.S. gasoline inventories offset a smaller-than-expected drop in crude stocks in the world's top energy user.

(Changes to megabits from megabytes in paragraph 5)

Microblogging service Twitter has tapped a former Google Inc executive to be its chief operating officer, the latest move by the fledgling but fast-growing company to build out its management team as it seeks to start making money.

A U.S. federal judge ruled that Morgan Stanley and two credit rating agencies must defend fraud charges in a class-action lawsuit accusing them of masking the risks of an investment linked to subprime mortgages, and which eventually collapsed.

Cerberus Capital Management LP will prohibit investors in two new hedge funds from withdrawing money for three years, the Financial Times said on Wednesday quoting executives from the firm.

Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc and Leucadia National Corp agreed to buy Capmark Financial Group Inc's mortgage loan and servicing business for as much as $490 million, increasing exposure to a possible U.S. housing recovery.

Google Inc's efforts to persuade businesses to buy its email services suffered a setback this week after a highly publicized outage shut down accounts of millions of corporate customers for almost two hours.

U.S. securities regulators missed numerous red flags that may have led to Bernard Madoff's $65 billion Ponzi scheme and never did a thorough and competent probe despite complaints dating to 1992, a federal watchdog has concluded.

US TREASURIES moved higher again for the third session this week in the wake of a greater than expected loss of jobs in the private sector.

What the Fed was Thinking; WatchDog Incompetency; Pfizer's Crime

A powerful earthquake hit Southern Indonesia on Wednesday, killing at least 32 people and damaging more than 1,300 homes, government agencies said.

The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission said on Wednesday it will issue its first expanded trader reports on Friday as the regulator moves to provide more insight into who is doing business on futures exchanges.

U.S. television viewers are increasingly turning on the Web, tuning into television and not missing a beat on either, as simultaneous TV and Internet use continues to rise, research firm Nielsen said on Wednesday.

Online video site YouTube is in talks with several major movie studios about renting movies to users by streaming the movies over the Internet according to a person familiar with the talks on Wednesday.

Hugh Hefner is bringing his Playboy party to the Toronto International Film Festival.

A billionaire Canadian circus entrepreneur who will visit space this month said on Wednesday he will host a live event from orbit on October 9 to promote the importance of access to clean water globally.

Charles Gibson will step down as news anchor on ABC television's

Australian Dollar: The Australian Dollar has firmed once again and opens on Thursday at 0.8340 against its US counterpart. During the local session yesterday the Aussie reacted positively to the release of better than expected economic growth numbers moving to an intraday high of 0.8317.

Tony Blair, the former prime minister of Britain, will take a break from seeking peace in the Middle East to trade jokes with comedian David Letterman on his first ever

The Venice film festival opened on Wednesday with big-budget Italian movie

Peace, love, and music. Throw in some mud and an enormous little Japanese town in late July, and there's a spectacle to be held.

The French take their food seriously. In a land of three hour dinners, afternoons spent at outdoor cafes, hundreds of different kinds of cheese and mandated 35-hour work weeks, the French seem to spend about as much time and energy eating and drinking as they do working.