Wall Street poised for lower open
NEW YORK – U.S. stocks headed for a lower open Thursday after wholesale prices surged in November and as investors remained skeptical that a plan from the Federal Reserve and other central banks to ease tightness in the credit markets would prove effective.

Retail sales surge in November
WASHINGTON – Consumers put aside worries about the weak economy in November to storm into the shopping malls, pushing up retail sales by the largest amount in six months.

Producer prices soar 3.2 percent in November
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Producer prices surged 3.2 percent in November, the biggest rise in 34 years, on a record rise in gasoline prices, the Labor Department said on Thursday.

Central banks join forces to ease credit crisis
The U.S. Federal Reserve, the European Central Bank and the central banks of Canada, England and Switzerland announced steps to make it easier for stressed banks to access cash in the hopes of quelling a credit crunch that threatens to knock the U.S. economy into recession and slow growth worldwide. The Bank of Japan and Sweden’s Riksbank also issued statements that they were lending support to the plan.

Markets fall, yen edges up on funding plan doubts
SYDNEY (Reuters) – Skepticism about plans by major central banks to tackle tight credit conditions knocked Asian stocks to one-week lows on Thursday, while the yen gained against the euro and dollar as risk appetite waned.