IBT Staff Reporter

An Australian hedge fund felled by its exposure to risky credit derivatives filed for bankruptcy protection in the United States, and liquidators on Thursday were assessing how much money, if any, would be returned to investors.

While funding for large leveraged buyouts has dried up in the last month, the middle market M&A climate remains strong, with hundreds of potential deals currently in the pipeline, American Capital Strategies Ltd Chairman and CEO Malon Wilkus said on Wednesday.

Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke, under fire from some for being slow to stamp out a smoldering credit crisis, takes the stage before global policy-makers on Friday in a test of his leadership with financial market worry at a fever pitch.

Japan's Nikkei average rose 0.9 percent on Thursday as higher oil prices pushed up energy stocks and trading firms, while TDK Corp gained on its plan to buy Thai-based Magnecomp Precision Technology.

U.S. stock index futures fell on Thursday, pointing to a weaker open a day after stocks rallied, as investors grappled with mixed signals on whether the Federal Reserve would soon cut rates.

The yen rose broadly on Thursday, recovering from the previous day's sharp drop, and high yielding currencies fell as the spotlight swung back to troubled credit markets with investors cautious about risky carry trades.

Oil was steady above $73 on Thursday after spiking two percent the previous day on an unexpectedly large drop in crude and gasoline stocks in top consumer the United States.

California produce grower Metz Fresh LLC said on Wednesday it voluntarily recalled fresh spinach in grocery stores and food service packages after a sample tested positive for salmonella.

The U.S. Federal Reserve is not rushing to cut benchmark interest rates because it wants to break investors of the view that the central bank is there to bail them out, an article in the Wall Street Journal said on Thursday.

South Korea said the remaining seven Korean church volunteers held by the Taliban in Afghanistan were likely to be freed on Thursday, a day after 12 of their colleagues were released from an ordeal of nearly six weeks.

Yahoo Inc.'s top sales executive is leaving the company in the latest reorganization by President Susan Decker that merges sales into a broader division seeking new partnership deals such as ones it has struck with eBay, Comcast and newspaper publishers. Gregory Coleman, the company's executive vice president of global sales, is leaving Yahoo to pursue other opportunities Decker said in a memo sent to employees late on Wednesday.

Gap Inc chief financial officer Byron Pollitt is leaving to become finance chief for Visa Inc, the companies said, marking the second high-level executive exit this year for the clothing retailer as it wrestles with a multiyear sales slump.

Concerns about creditworthiness in the U.S. mortgage market have helped to push up rates on so called jumbo mortgages, and rates on adjustable-rate mortgages saw a record rise this week.

Microsoft Corp agreed to acquire Parlano, which provides technology to allow companies to create group chat sessions for employees, and add the application to its portfolio of communication offerings.

U.S. meat company Smithfield Foods Inc.'s once ravenous appetite for growth may be abating as the company may now focus on paying down debt, according to comments made on Wednesday by its chief executive.

Private equity firms Madrone Capital Partners and Goldman Sachs Capital Partners agreed to invest $1 billion in closely held Global Hyatt Corp, the hotel company's chairman, Tom Pritzker, said on Wednesday.

U.S. stocks rebounded on Wednesday, pushing the Nasdaq to its best day in more than a year, as investors snapped up beaten down technology shares, while the energy sector benefited from a surge in oil prices. Also, a letter from Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke saying the Fed was prepared to act to stabilize the credit market added to investor hopes for a an interest rate cut.

The nation's largest mortgage lender, Countrywide Financial Corp, should halt the aggressive marketing practices that put many borrowers into loans they could not afford, the head of a housing panel in the Senate said on Wednesday.

American Airlines, the world's largest carrier, is pinning its hopes for growth in the New York market to a $1.3 billion terminal, unveiled on Wednesday, that could net 50 percent more passengers at John F. Kennedy International Airport.

The yen dropped against the euro and dollar on Wednesday as investors took recovering U.S. stock markets as a cue to slash short-term bets that the Japanese currency would strengthen.

Hollywood star Angelina Jolie on Tuesday traveled to Iraq and appealed for more international support for the millions of people uprooted by war and violence.

Venice's film festival is celebrating 30 films of a quintessentially American genre made by Italian directors.

Apple Inc shares rose more than 4.5 percent on Wednesday, fueled by excitement over the pending launch of new iPod digital music players, which could entice current users to buy upgraded models.

Malaysia's biggest listed firm, Malayan Banking, posted a better-than-expected 28 percent rise in fourth-quarter profit on Wednesday, helped by growth in net interest, insurance and credit card income.

Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, the world's largest lender by market value, said on Wednesday it would pay 4.68 billion patacas (US$583 million) for 80 percent of Macau's Seng Heng Bank, giving it a foothold in the booming gaming territory.

Wall Street bank Bear Stearns Cos, which is building up its business outside the United States, has appointed John Moore, co-head of fixed income for Europe, to be its chief executive for Asia.

Bourse owner and operator OMX said on Wednesday it had sent questions to Borse Dubai about Borse Dubai's $4.0 billion bid for the company, which topped an agreed $3.7 billion deal with Nasdaq.

British bank Barclays has no plans to walk away from the battle for ABN AMRO despite a growing gap between its bid and a competing offer, sources close to the matter said on Wednesday.

Subprime auto lender Triad Financial Corp., partly owned by Goldman Sachs, plans to cut 124 jobs in California next month, according to a notice filed with that state's department of labor.