IBT Staff Reporter

The European Central Bank cut its main interest rate on Thursday and announced a three-pronged drive of unconventional steps to drive down borrowing costs and get the euro zone economy back on its feet.

Warner Music Group on Thursday posted a wider quarter loss as recorded music sales declined more than expected.

The idea of wind turbines churning out free electricity alongside every home and office building has appeal, judging by the throngs around community wind purveyors at a Chicago wind power convention this week.

Italy's biggest utility Enel SpA has received more than 10 indications of interest for a stake of upto 49 percent in its renewable energy unit, Enel Green Power, a top company executive said.

Venture capitalists are increasingly looking to invest in start-up companies that provide complementary services for the Internet cloud, hoping to get in on the ground floor of a trend that the world's biggest tech companies are pushing.

The Bank of England left interest rates at a record low 0.5 percent for a second month running on Thursday and said it would increase the size of its asset purchase programme by 50 billion pounds.

Ford Motor Co's sale of Volvo is moving ahead as it runs due diligence on the remaining bidders, and a buyer could be announced by the end of this month or next, two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.

The European Central Bank cut its main interest rate on Thursday to 1.0 percent, and financial markets are now focused on any alternative policy measures the ECB reveals to get the euro zone economy back on its feet.

General Motors Corp said it burned through $10.2 billion in the first quarter as it failed to cut costs fast enough to offset a sharp decline in global sales and was kept afloat by a federal bailout.

The popular micro-blogging and social networking service Twitter is not for sale, one of the company's founders said on TV on Wednesday.

U.S. stock index futures pointed to a higher open on Thursday as investors braced for results of the stress tests for banks, while strong earnings from Cisco may help boost the tech sector.

The Bank of England said on Thursday it would increase the size of its asset purchase program by 50 billion pounds to 125 billion pounds, and left interest rates at a record low 0.5 percent for a second month.

When I die there will be a final waltz playing in my head, Oscar-winning French composer Maurice Jarre once said, according to several newspapers reporting his death in March.

Nintendo Co Ltd reported a 42 percent fall in quarterly operating profit as the yen's strength outweighed robust game sales, and the Japanese video game maker forecast a bigger-than-expected 12 percent profit decline this year, pressuring its shares.

Just a little more than a week after the beta 4 was made available to developers, Apple released its iPhone OS 3.0, beta 5.

A trio of top European banks showed bad debts are ratcheting up as economies worsen and unemployment rises, although investor optimism ahead of U.S. bank stress test results drove shares to year highs.

Nintendo reported a 42 percent fall in quarterly operating profit as the yen's strength outweighed robust game sales, and the Japanese video game maker forecast a bigger-than-expected 12 percent profit decline this year, pressuring its shares.

Anheuser-Busch InBev beat forecasts with stronger first-quarter earnings and clinched the sale of its Korean brewer on Thursday, sending its shares higher, though it warned profit growth would slow.

U.S. car maker General Motors Corp is eyeing a stake in Fiat SpA's car business in exchange for its European and Latin American operations, the New York Times reported on its website.

Shares are set for a mostly higher open on Thursday, ahead of the results of the stress tests for banks.

U.S. carmaker General Motors Corp is eyeing a stake in Italian peer Fiat SpA in exchange for the American automaker's European and Latin American operations, the New York Times reported on its website.

Anheuser-Busch InBev said it agreed to sell its South Korean Oriental Brewery to private equity firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co for $1.8 billion, allowing the world's largest brewer to repay debt.

British bank Barclays Plc said first-quarter profit rose 15 percent as strong growth at its investment banking arm made up for a big jump in bad debts as economies worsen, sending its shares to a seven-month high.

Barclays Plc said its first quarter profit rose 15 percent from a year ago as strong growth at its investment bank arm made up for a big jump in bad debts.

Societe Generale slumped to a surprise loss in the first quarter as higher-than-expected writedowns and provisions hit the bank's earnings.

Societe Generale slumped to a surprise loss in the first quarter as higher-than-expected writedowns and provisions hit the bank's earnings.

Asian shares extended their rally Thursday as encouraging signs about the health of U.S. banks and the global economy bolstered riskier assets such as oil and hurt safe-havens such as the yen.

Regulators are ordering some of the largest U.S. banks to find tens of billions of dollars of capital to cushion themselves in the event of a deep economic downturn.

Anheuser-Busch InBev reported a better-than-expected rise in first-quarter core profit on Thursday and announced the sale of a Korean brewery, but warned of tougher cost comparisons in the rest of the year.