IBT Staff Reporter

Stock index futures pointed to a flat open on Thursday ahead of key data on jobless claims and economic growth.

U.S. homebuilder Lennar Corp posted a wider-than-expected quarterly loss, weighed by falling home deliveries and average home prices, even as the housing market experienced an uptick in new home sales.

The head of Microsoft Corp's $9 billion research unit thinks the debate over stopping climate change is being muddied by talk of renewable energy.

A U.S. district judge ruled that Sprint Nextel Corp will not face a nationwide class-action lawsuit that claims the No. 3 U.S. mobile company overcharged customers for taxes and refused refunds, court documents show.

China's top economic planning agency is likely to reject Sichuan Tengzhong's bid to buy the Hummer brand from bankrupt General Motors Corp , state radio reported on Thursday.

The heads of the top U.S. companies might be engaged in the boardroom, but they're switched off when it comes to social media, according to a new study that said CEOs should be more connected to their customers.

Oil rose toward $69 a barrel on Thursday after Nigeria's main militant group shut down one of Royal Dutch Shell's pipeline junction points, heightening concerns about supplies from the region.

LG Electronics Inc on Thursday launched liquid crystal display televisions that use light-emitting diodes as a light source, and said it was aiming to sell as many as 5 million units in 2010.

China on Thursday stepped up accusations that Google is spreading obscene content, a day after U.S. officials urged Beijing to abandon plans for controversial filtering software on new computers.

Toyota Motor Corp's new president, the grandson of the group's founder, warned on Thursday the auto industry faces another two tough years as he outlined his strategy to return the world's No.1 car company to profit.

World stocks slipped on Thursday after the Federal Reserve cautioned that the U.S. economy would remain weak for a time, adding to concerns about the sustainability of a recent recovery.

China's Foreign Ministry on Thursday accused Google's English language search engine of spreading vulgar content that violated the nation's law.

Internet users in China were unable to open the main site of Google, the world's biggest search engine, late on Wednesday evening, and the company said it was investigating.

Asian stocks rallied for a second day on Thursday after the Federal Reserve reinforced that interest rates will be kept at a record low for a while, but Treasuries extended losses as the Fed shied away from boosting debt purchases.

Oil rose toward $69 on Thursday, after Nigeria's main militant group raided a Royal Dutch Shell pipeline and disrupted a major export terminal, recouping losses caused by hefty builds in U.S. fuel stocks.

The United States appears to have won a victory against Chinese barriers to imported films, books and recorded music in a preliminary World Trade Organization ruling not yet made public.

President Barack Obama stepped up pressure on Congress on Wednesday to pass healthcare reform this year, staging a daylong media blitz that ended with a televised town hall-style meeting at the White House to rally public support.

President Barack Obama on Wednesday renewed sanctions against North Korea, declaring that its nuclear program posed a national security risk to the United States and a danger to the Korean Peninsula.

Ordinary web users in China will be banned from surfing sex-related medical and research websites from next month, amid an Internet crackdown on pornographic online content, according to new regulations.

Iran's reformist opposition leaders vowed to press on with legal challenges to an election they say was rigged, even as the hardline government appeared on Thursday to have largely crushed mass street protests.

The Federal Reserve sought to hide its involvement in Bank of America Corp's acquisition of Merrill Lynch as Merrill's financial condition worsened, the top Republican on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee said on Wednesday.

Asian stocks rallied for a second day on Thursday after the Federal Reserve reinforced that interest rates will be kept at a record low for a while, but Treasuries extended losses as the Fed shied away from boosting its debt purchases.

Woolworths, the 100-year-old sweets-to-DVD retailer that collapsed earlier this year, will on Thursday be revived as an online business by Britain's biggest home shopping retailer, Shop Direct, which bought the brand name in February.

Time Warner Inc and Comcast Corp have banded together to test ways to allow people to watch more TV shows over the Web, while making sure they keep paying for their traditional cable or satellite TV services.

The world's leading provider of open source solutions, Red Hat Inc on Wednesday said its continues rising first quarter drove by its open source products amid the economic downturn has bought back $47 million of its common stock in the quarter.

Global flash memory cards leader, SanDisk Corporation on Wednesday introduced the world’s claiming fastest 32GB SDHC card on the market design for DLSR, HD video and Apple’s new SD slot laptop.

Federal Reserve chairman, Ben Bernanke is expected to testify on Thursday about allegations made by Bank of America CEO that the government put pressure on him to go forward with the Merril Lynch acquisition.

Chinese equities rose 1.02% on Wednesday to close at one-year high after the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said the country's economy has bottomed out, said Xinhua news agency.

Nike Inc reported a worse-than-expected global decline in forward orders, especially in its European region, sending shares of the world's largest athletic shoe and clothing company down nearly 5 percent in extended trading on Wednesday.