(Reuters) - Greece's new finance minister met EU and IMF officials on Thursday to address gaps in his austerity plans with European leaders insisting harsh measures are adopted in return for funding to avert bankruptcy. Euro zone governments are meanwhile arm-twisting banks and insurers to maintain exposure to Greek sovereign debt when their bonds mature as part of a planned second rescue for Athens.

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(Reuters) - Sales of new U.S. single family homes fell for the first time in three months in May, but inventories of new homes for sale reached record lows and the median sales price rose slightly, a government report showed on Thursday. The Commerce Department said May new home sales fell 2.1 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 319,000. Analysts polled by Reuters were expecting a slightly slower pace of 310,000 for the month.

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(Reuters) - Discover Financial Services (DFS.N) said on Thursday that quarterly profit more than doubled, beating expectations, as customers spent more on their credit cards and the company started to reap the benefits of its expansion beyond credit card lending. The Riverwoods, Illinois, credit card company on Thursday reported profit of $600 million, or $1.09 per share for the fiscal second quarter ended May 31. That compared with a year-earlier profit of $258 million, or 33 cents per share.

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(Reuters) - Walgreen Co Chief Financial Officer Wade Miquelon said on Thursday that the drugstore chain's decision to end its agreement with pharmacy benefits management (PBM) company Express Scripts Inc was not a bargaining tactic but a "principled stand." Miquelon, speaking at conference hosted by Jefferies broadcast over the internet, said Walgreen ended talks because the companies were "miles apart." Many analysts surmised it was a negotiating tactic by Walgreen, a notion Miquelon dismissed.

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(Reuters) - Stocks seesawed between modest gains and losses on Wednesday ahead of the Federal Reserve's assessment of the economy and any plans for dealing with renewed weakness. Supporting the market, shares of economic bellwether FedEx Corp (FDX.N) rose 2.2 percent to $91.11 after the shipping group reported a strong fourth-quarter profit and forecast robust 2012 earnings.

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(Reuters) - FedEx Corp reported a strong fourth-quarter profit on Wednesday despite fuel and economic challenges and forecast robust 2012 earnings, sending its shares up 3 percent in premarket trading. "Our actions to improve yields continue to drive revenue and earnings growth across our transportation segments," said Alan B. Graf, FedEX chief financial officer. "Even with higher planned capital spending in fiscal 2012, margins, cash flows and returns are expected to improve year over year."

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(Reuters) - The Federal Reserve will likely nod to renewed weakness in the U.S. economy in a post-meeting policy statement on Wednesday, but don't expect policymakers to do anything about it any time soon. That's in part because underlying inflation, considered too low in the period preceding the launch of the central bank's most recent round of bond purchases, has been rising.

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(Reuters) - Europe kept up the pressure on Greece to push forward with a painful austerity program on Wednesday after the government jumped a crucial hurdle in averting the euro zone's first debt default. With thousands of demonstrators chanting insults outside, the government of Prime Minister George Papandreou survived a confidence vote early on Wednesday and was due later in the day to approve new belt-tightening measures needed to free up more loans and avoid bankruptcy.

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(Reuters) - The head of PIMCO, the world's biggest bond fund, predicted that Greece and other European economies would default on their debts to resolve their problems as the euro area deals with its debt crisis. Greece's government won a vote of confidence late on Tuesday, a crucial step toward securing further short-term and longer-term financial aid from the European Union and the IMF as the country tries to avoid the euro zone's first sovereign debt default.

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(Reuters) - Airbus was set to announce a record $16 billion plane order at the Paris Air Show on Wednesday as the EADS unit racks up sales of a revamped version of its top-selling single-aisle aircraft. Indian budget carrier IndiGo is expected to unveil an order for 180 Airbus planes, the largest in terms of numbers and the biggest boost to date for the A320neo as higher oil prices push airlines to seek more fuel-efficient aircraft.

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