IBT Staff Reporter

Gold futures closed with gains for the first time this week on speculation that higher energy costs and a weaker dollar will boost demand for the precious metal as a hedge against inflation.

J. C. Penny Co. reported that its first-quarter profit fell by 50 percent on lower consumer spending and it forecast a similar profit drop for its current quarter.

Blackstone Group, the private equity firm which went public last year, reported a first-quarter loss on Thursday.

APP Pharmaceuticals Inc., a major supplier of Heparin, will increase prices of the treatment due to rising costs in raw material, testing and additional personnel costs, the company announced today.

Comcast Corp. said that it reached an agreement to Plaxo Inc., which operates an online address book and a social network called Pulse and provided the basis for other popular social networking sites, including Facebook and Friendster.

AT&T Inc is testing its current wireless network to deliver faster speeds ahead of the launch of its next generation wireless standard.

CBS Corp. made a major push into the Internet world on Thursday, announcing that it was acquiring CNET Networks for about $1.8 billion, owner of numerous entertainment and information Web sites.

The FTSE 100 share index rose marginally on Wednesday. The index finished the day rising 4.1 points to 6,216.0 (up 0.1 per cent).

Supermarket giant Tesco said on Wednesday that it acquired 36 Homever stores in South Korea from the E-Land Group for £958 million, including existing debt.

J Sainsbury said on Wednesday that its total retail sales for the full year to 22 March 2008 had risen 5.8 per cent to £19,287 million. The supermarket chain said that like for like sales were up 3.9 per cent.

Comcast agreed to purchase Plaxo the first innovative system that developed social networks from address books. With the acquisition of Plaxo, Comcast plans to provide its consumers social network links across all its devices including wireless, TVs and digital video recorders.

Bayer AG plans to recall the remaining supplies of its drug Trasylol for blood clotting from the U.S. market according to the Food and Drug Administration.

MedAssets Inc. reported on Wednesday its first-quarter profit surpassed analyst's expectations.

Technology stocks advanced on Wednesday but lost earlier gains after a late session sell-off.

Nissan Motor Co. is planning to raise its vehicle prices in Japan in a bid to pass along higher raw-material costs, according to a Japanese media report.

The dollar was little changed against the yen on Thursday holding on to gains from yesterday as U.S. stocks rose on consumer prices which rose less than expected, alleviating inflation worries.

Billionaire investor Carl Icahn reportedly has decided to move ahead with plans to run a dissident board slate at Yahoo Inc in an attempt to pressure the company into restarting negotiations with Microsoft Corp.

General Electric Co. is considering selling or divesting itself of its appliances business, the Wall Street Journal said on its website late Wednesday.

Delta Air Lines said Wednesday its pilots had cleared merger plans with Northwest Airlines, removing a possible hurdle of labor disruptions and allowing the companies to create the largest US carrier.

Shanghai Stock Exchange composite Index (SSE) gained 97.2 points, or 2.7 percent, to reach 3,657.4 on Wednesday. Shenzhen Stock Exchange component index gained 29.2 points, or 2.63 percent, to reach 1,139.1 percent.

Geron Corp. the developer of biopharmaceuticals for cancer and chronic degenerative diseases treatments said U.S. regulators put a clinical hold to its investigational cell therapy for spinal cord injury.

Ford Motor Co. is recalling about 50,000 Ford F-150 and Lincoln Mark LT pickup trucks in Canada due to a problem that can cause the vehicles to lose braking power.

UBS on Wednesday announced management changes within its investment bank unit and also altered the organization of its risk control operations.

A Texas appeals court overturned a verdict of $7.75 million against Merck & Co. related to the painkiller Vioxx.

The FTSE 100 share index was up early on Wednesday. By 9:06am the index had risen 8.9 points to 6,220.7 (up 0.1 per cent).

Tokyo stocks continued to rise for the third-straight day Wednesday due to a weaker yen against U.S. dollar and rebounding Shanghai equities.

Copper prices fell on Wednesday as investors fear higher prices may weaken global demand and the dollar was gained, lowering the demand for commodities.

Clear Channel Communications Inc. and the banks that agreed to finance its highly leveraged buy-out were able to enter into a settlement agreement ending lawsuit proceedings previously filed in New York State Supreme Court and Bexar County District Court.

A Federal judge in Los Angeles ruled in favor of MySpace, awarding the social networking site $230 million judgment related to junk messages sent to its members, according to a report.