Thursday Morning Business Brief

Stocks ended mixed in the latest Wall Street session. The Dow added nearly a dozen points. The S&P dropped nearly 2 points, while the Nasdaq was down nearly 6 points.

• World stock markets rose Thursday, buoyed by expectations that the European Central Bank will announce a plan to support financially struggling countries in the Eurozone. ECB President Mario Draghi is expected to unveil a new bond-buying program intended to bring down the high borrowing costs of Spain and Italy.
• Oil prices are up ahead of a key European bank meeting. Benchmark crude rose Thursday to above $96 per barrel.
• The Labor Department this morning releases new claims for unemployment benefits. That comes ahead of the monthly unemployment report, due tomorrow.
• Europe's debt crisis is pushing the 17-nation eurozone toward recession and is dragging down the global economy. That's the assessment from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, which says growth in traditional economic powerhouse Germany is slowing and Europe's largest economy could slip into recession by the end of the year.

You can find local business news on the Back To Business page of KELOLAND.com.