Mark Brooks

Even so, the bank left rates unchanged at its meeting Thursday, and ECB head Mario Draghi gave little sign he was leaning toward any more cuts to stimulate growth.

The Energy Department's Energy Information Administration reported that natural gas in storage declined by 73 billion cubic feet to 3.804 trillion cubic feet for the week ended Nov. 30.

The ECB is leaving its key interest rate unchanged at a record low and cutting its 2013 growth forecast to negative from positive.

The Greek Statistical Authority said Thursday that 1.295 million people were recorded as being unemployed in September, pushing up the jobless rate up from 25.3 the previous month and 18.9 percent a year earlier.

The euro fell to $1.3079 late Wednesday from $1.3101 late Tuesday. The British pound fell to $1.6099 from $1.6106.

The findings seem to strengthen Obama's hand in his fiscal cliff negotiations with Republicans.

The final vote on Thursday is expected to show overwhelming support for legislation that also imposes sanctions on Russian human rights violators.

The move will come just two days after the company lowered its profit outlook for the year, citing failed promotions and negative publicity from its tests that used more part-time employees.

Other commodities are mostly higher as positive economic news is tempered by the slow pace of budget talks in Washington.

Department spokesman George Little said the cuts would be "devastating to our national defense."

The movement of cash was in line with the conservative approach that many investors have taken since the financial crisis of 2008.

The exchange rescheduled trading of the company's initial public offering of stock for 3 p.m. It was supposed to begin trading at about 11 a.m.

Finance Minister Michael Noonan told a hushed parliamentary chamber that Ireland must keep slashing its deficits down to the eurozone limit of 3 percent of GDP and it "still has a long way to go."

Benchmark crude fell 34 cents to $88.16 in midday trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

The euro rose to $1.3101 in late trading Tuesday from $1.3060 late Monday. The euro rose as high as $1.3108 earlier, its highest point against the dollar since Oct. 18.

The voluntary program is part of an effort by the world's second-biggest package delivery company to cut annual costs by $1.7 billion within three years.

Gold fell 1.5 percent to finish Tuesday at $1,695.80 an ounce. That's the lowest in a month.

A two-judge panel of the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals made the ruling Tuesday after listening to arguments regarding the case against Rajat Gupta.

Spain's Labor Ministry said Tuesday that unemployment rose a monthly 74,296 in November, or 1.5 percent, to a record 4.9 million.

The Republican proposal Monday, while intended to break a stalemate in place since the administration last week angered Republicans with a $1.6 trillion plan that largely exempted Medicare and Social Security from budget cuts, sparked a predictable round of partisanship.