IBT Staff Reporter

Oil rose more than $3 per barrel to above $51 on Thursday as rising equities markets bolstered sentiment during a G20 summit which investors hoped would deliver measures to restore global growth.

Maurice Greenberg said he was not responsible for problems at American International Group since they occurred after he left, the Wall Street Journal reported citing an interview with the former chief of the company.

Michael Bruder has been yelled at, hung up on and hustled quickly out of offices.

The number of U.S. workers filing new claims for jobless benefits unexpectedly rose to its highest level in over 26 years last week and so-called continued claims jumped to a record high in March, according to data that underscored the labor market deterioration.

Fears that a major U.S. automaker could seek bankruptcy protection are causing auto parts suppliers to demand quicker payments from the manufacturers, exacerbating problems for the already hard-pressed car makers.

Chinese online gaming firm Changyou.com Ltd priced its $120 million Nasdaq IPO at the top of its indicated range on healthy investor demand -- a rare sign of life in a long-moribund market for new issuance.

Stock futures pointed to a higher open on Thursday on optimism the G20 meeting underway in London will agree on ways to temper the economic crisis.

Banker Julius Meinl V, chairman of Austria's closely held Meinl Bank, was arrested late on Wednesday on suspicion of defrauding investors in secretive share buybacks in 2007, Vienna prosecutors said on Thursday.

Oil rose more than $3 per barrel to around $51 on Thursday as rising equities markets bolstered sentiment during a G20 summit which investors hoped would deliver measures to restore global growth.

World stocks powered higher on Thursday as hopes grew that the U.S. economic decline was reaching a bottom while the euro gained despite expectations of an interest rate cut from the European Central Bank.

Dow Jones futures rose 2.2 percent by 6:40 a.m EDT, S&P 500 futures were up 2.1 percent, and Nasdaq futures were up 2.2 percent, pointing to Wall Street opening higher on Thursday, building on the previous session's gains.

World stocks powered higher on Thursday as hopes grew that the U.S. economic decline was reaching a bottom while the euro gained despite expectations of an interest rate cut from the European Central Bank.

Although the U.S. economy is expected to return to growth later this year, there is a danger of a second recession if monetary easing and a weak dollar leads to increased inflation expectations, a report said on Wednesday.

Swiss Re , the world's second-larger reinsurer, said on Thursday it plans to cut 10 percent of its workforce over the next 12 months in a bid to cut costs by 400 million Swiss francs ($349.6 million) by 2010.

Asian stocks shot to a three-month high on Thursday, building a three-day rally on hopes the U.S. economy has bottomed, while the euro was firm before a European Central Bank meeting at which rates may be cut for the last time in a while.

Shares of HSBC vaulted over 15 percent in Hong Kong in their biggest daily advance in five months on Thursday, joining a global bank rally spurred by encouraging U.S. data and an expected easing of accounting rules.

ArcelorMittal , the world's largest steelmaker, said on Thursday it had extended its credit lines by $1.2 billion until 2012, bringing the total amount of such refinancing to $6 billion.

Netflix Inc on Thursday said it delivered its two billionth movie and gave the lucky recipient of the milestone DVD a complimentary lifetime membership.

Maurice Greenberg said he was not responsible for problems at American International Group since they occurred after he left, the Wall Street Journal reported citing an interview with the former chief of the company.

Shares of HSBC vaulted more than 10 percent to a one-month high on Thursday, feeding off a rally in Wall Street banks, spurred by encouraging U.S. homes sales and an expected loosening in accounting rules.

Asian stocks rose on Thursday, with investors seeing a sliver of hope the U.S. economy has bottomed, while the euro edged up before a European Central Bank meeting at which rates may be cut for the last time in a while.

The U.S. Justice Department has opened about 100 criminal investigations into wealthy American clients of the Swiss bank UBS AG , the New York Times said, citing a person briefed on the matter.

U.S. auto sales fell 37 percent in March, a smaller-than-expected drop that encouraged hope that the world's largest car market is nearing a bottom after a freefall that has pulled the industry into a deepening crisis.

China is encouraging people to pay respects to the martyrs of the Communist revolution on a new website set up ahead of a traditional holiday to remember the dead, state media said on Thursday.

Accounting giant KPMG was hit with a billion-dollar lawsuit on Wednesday over claims its grossly negligent audits helped trigger the collapse of a top subprime mortgage lender at the start of the U.S. housing crisis.

World leaders will pledge to regulate major hedge funds for the first time and set up a new oversight board to monitor the global financial system, according to a draft of the G20 communique.

North Korea has begun fuelling a long-range rocket and could launch it by the weekend, CNN said, with the United States and others promising punishment for a move they say violates U.N. resolutions.

World leaders are set to declare an end to unfettered capitalism at a G20 summit on Thursday after France and Germany demanded they act fast on promises to prevent a repeat of the worst economic crisis since the 1930s.

Wikia Search, a community-led search engine, is now closed after a 15 month stint, citing a difficult economy.