INVESTMENT

Stocks suffered their worst one-day percentage drop since October on Thursday as U.S. President Barack Obama proposed tough restrictions on banks that would squeeze profits.

The S&P 500 index fell on Wednesday as stocks declined following President Barack Obama's announcement of his proposal for new bank regulations.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc , under fire for gold-plated pay packages, cut average pay per employee by about a quarter from record 2007 levels, helping boost its profit to a record.

U.S. stocks dropped on Thursday as President Barack Obama took a tough stance on financial institutions, proposing rules to make the system safer by preventing the biggest banks from taking excessive risks.

U.S. stocks dropped on Thursday as President Barack Obama took a tough stance on financial institutions, proposing rules to make the system safer by preventing the biggest banks from taking excessive risks.

President Barack Obama proposed stricter limits on financial institutions' risk-taking on Thursday in a new populist-tinged move that sent bank shares tumbling and aimed to shore up the president's political base.

Blackstone Group said on Thursday it will take over management of nine leveraged loan and high yield bond funds with assets of $3.2 billion from business development company Allied Capital Corp.

Wall Street tumbled on Thursday after President Barack Obama proposed rules aimed at making the financial system safer by preventing the biggest banks from taking excessive risks.

President Barack Obama proposed stricter limits on financial risk-taking on Thursday in a new populist-tinged move that sent bank shares lower and aimed to shore up his own political base.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc , which had been on track to pay employees a near-record amount, instead set aside nothing for compensation in the fourth quarter and gave $500 million to charity.

The Dow and S&P 500 fell on Thursday as fears any proposed new restrictions by the Obama administration on big banks would cut profits at large trading firms like Goldman Sachs Group.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc , which had been on track to pay employees a near-record amount, instead set aside nothing for compensation in the fourth quarter and gave $500 million to charity.

Huge trading profits offset declines in banking at Goldman Sachs Group Inc in 2009 as the broader economy struggled.

U.S. stocks were set for a flat open on Thursday as a rise in initial weekly jobless claims offset better-than-expected earnings from several banks, including Goldman Sachs Group .

Fifth Third Bancorp reported a much smaller fourth-quarter loss on Thursday after it recorded fewer writedowns on mortgages and other loans.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc on Thursday reduced its 2009 bonus pool as it posted a better-than-expected fourth-quarter profit.

U.S. stock index futures rose on Thursday ahead of quarterly results from Goldman Sachs Group

Stock index futures rose on Thursday ahead of quarterly results from Goldman Sachs Group , which leads another round of earnings reports, and data on the labor market and a leading economic index.

Stock index futures pointed to a lower open on Thursday, ahead of a slew of earnings news, with futures for the S&P 500 down 0.04 percent, the Dow Jones industrial average 0.1 percent lower and the Nasdaq 100 futures down 0.2 percent.

Developed and emerging equity markets diverged on Thursday with the latter falling on worries China will take more measures to temper growth after reporting its fastest quarterly growth in two years.

Charles Schwab Corp , the largest U.S. online brokerage, on Wednesday said it priced an offering of more than 26 million of its shares at $19 a share.