Markets: News  

Futures drop after data, central-bank moves

Wall Street's coming back from the Independence Day holiday to word of an interest-rate cut out of China, as investors also digest the Bank of England and await word from the European Central Bank. June data on retail sales and other U.S. economic data also figure in the mix. See full story.

ECB cuts rates; BOE boosts quantitative easing

The European Central Bank takes its key lending rate to a record low below 1%, while the Bank of England fires another salvo of quantitative easing in a bid to keep the U.K. economy out of the ditch. See full story.

China's central bank cuts lending, deposit rates

China's central bank on Thursday unveiled a surprise interest rate cut, lowering borrowing and deposit rates while also enabling banks greater leeway in setting their own lending rates at a discount to the benchmark. See full story.

Private-sector payrolls pick up in June, ADP says

Private-payroll gains picked up in June, suggesting that unemployment may have declined, according to an employment report released Thursday by payrolls-processor Automatic Data Processing Inc. See full story.

U.S. jobless claims fall 14,000 to 374,000

First-time filings for unemployment benefits fall to lowest in six weeks, Labor data show, but the picture remains one of an economy mired in mediocre hiring trends. See full story.

As Research In Motion tries to reverse slide, there is little hope among investors for a comeback. Its story will undoubtedly lead to numerous business-school case studies picking apart where it went wrong. See full story.

It's a situation that seems to defy supply-and-demand logic: If there's more demand in the housing market, wouldn't the cost of borrowing funds to buy a home be significantly on the rise? See full story.