IBT Staff Reporter

A much-anticipated package of financial regulations from the Obama administration will call for a financial products safety commission and new rules on executive pay, hedge funds and derivatives, the chairman of the U.S. House of Representatives Financial Services Committee told Reuters on Wednesday.

Game publishers, in a rare moment of solidarity, joined forces on Wednesday to convey optimism for the future of their $30 billion industry despite spiraling consumer spending and a global economic downturn.

Sony Corp is in no hurry to cut prices on its PlayStation games console, top executives said, even though many industry experts and other executives consider it a foregone conclusion.

U.S. stocks rose on Thursday, led by financials, after RBC Capital Markets said it sees banks outperforming the market for multiple years, and energy stocks gained as oil rose almost 5 percent.

Oil prices rose more than 5 percent to a seven-month high above $69 a barrel on Thursday after U.S. data showed a drop in jobless claims, boosting expectations of an economic recovery that could revive ailing energy demand.

China security has tightened Tiananmen Square with hundreds of police on Thursday to prevent any commemoration of the crackdown on pro-democracy protesters 20 years ago.

U.S. stocks rose to session highs on Thursday, as a surge in oil prices lifted energy shares, while positive broker comments on banks including JPMorgan drove a run-up in financials.

Oil prices rose nearly 5 percent to a seven-month high above $69 a barrel on Thursday after U.S. data showed a fall in jobless claims, raising expectations of an economic recovery and increased demand for oil.

The European Central Bank said on Thursday it expected the euro zone recession to last for another year, unveiling details of a plan to pump cash into the troubled economy and keeping interest rates at a record low.

Google has launched a new analytics tool called Google Squared, which takes a spreadsheet-like approach to finding information on the Web.

United Airlines on Thursday said it has asked the two largest planemakers to bid on an order that could replace its widebody fleet, a move experts say could jump-start demand for new planes from embattled U.S. carriers as they wade through an economic recession.

Most retailers posted disappointing May sales as recession-weary shoppers cut spending at stores ranging from high-end chains to discounters like Target Corp , pushing down retail shares.

Extreme weakness in the U.S. economy is moderating but recovery will be slow and marked by lingering high unemployment, a top Federal Reserve policy-maker said on Thursday.

The local market was left in awe of what many have called the miracle economy and the 0.4% increase in economic growth during the first quarter of the year in Australia.

Rio Tinto is looking at new ways to deal with its huge debt burden, the mining group said on Thursday in response to reports its planned $19.5 billion stake sale to China's Chinalco has collapsed.

The U.S. Federal Reserve's policysetting Federal Open Market Committee is reverting to some one-day meetings in 2010 from all two-day sessions this year, the U.S. central bank said on Thursday.

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Standish Mellon Asset Management LLC, a bond manager overseeing $55 billion, on Thursday said it would launch investments in a federal program to boost consumer and commercial mortgage debt markets.

In spite of being number three in terms of console sales, Sony CEO said they have no plans to drop the price of its expensive PS.

Russia's state anti-monopoly service launched a probe of Microsoft Corp over cutbacks in supplies of the Windows XP operating system in Russia, it said on Thursday.

Discounter Wal-Mart Stores Inc says it will add more than 22,000 jobs in its U.S. namesake stores in 2009.

Interest rates on U.S. 30-year fixed-rate mortgages surged 0.38 percentage point in the latest week, reaching its highest level since the week ending Dec. 11, 2008, according to a survey released on Thursday by home funding company Freddie Mac (FRE.N).

Nine people have been indicted on charges of conspiring to defraud Washington Mutual Bank and DLJ Mortgage Capital Inc, a unit of Credit Suisse Group AG, in a $92 million mortgage fraud scheme, prosecutors said on Thursday.

Angelina Jolie has toppled Oprah Winfrey and become the world’s most powerful celebrity, based on a combination of earning power and media exposure, according to Forbes magazine.

U.S. stocks rose on Thursday as financial shares gained and encouraging data on jobless claims and business productivity offset disappointing May retail sales.

- Aiming to become a top-tier broker in the listed futures and options industry, Morgan Stanley hired Clark Hutchison and Bill Templer, co-heads of exchange-traded derivatives at UBS , according to an internal memo.

The number of U.S. workers filing new claims for jobless benefits fell for a third straight week last week, government data showed on Thursday, indicating some loss of force in the pace of the labor market's deterioration.

The steep decline in the U.S. economy has started to moderate, but a pending recovery is likely to be slow and marked by continued high unemployment, Cleveland Federal Reserve Bank President Sandra Pianalto said on Thursday.

A policeman and three Hamas gunmen were killed Thursday when Palestinian forces loyal to President Mahmoud Abbas raided a West Bank house to arrest militants, the second such operation in the past week.