(Reuters) - Economics, rather than politics was behind the collapse of this week's OPEC talks and the group as a whole would act if it grew worried about oil supplies running short, a top OPEC official said on Thursday. The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries met for the first time this year on Wednesday and for the first time in around a decade failed to make a decision on output policy.

• Read more

(Reuters) - General Motors is considering putting Opel up for sale again as management is losing confidence that the European arm will return to profitability, two German magazines reported. Auto Bild and Spiegel Online reported on Thursday, without citing any sources, that possible buyers could be Chinese carmakers or Germany's Volkswagen, which has almost 20 billion euros ($29.3 billion) available to spend.

• Read more

(Reuters) - The top candidate to run the International Monetary Fund, French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde, said she backed a bigger say for China at the Fund while making clear that the euro zone crisis would be a priority if she wins the job. Lagarde made the comments in Beijing, the latest leg of her world tour to seek support for her IMF candidacy. She is seen as the favorite to replace former IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn who was arrested last month on sexual assault charges.

• Read more

(Reuters) - The European Central Bank held interest rates on Thursday and is expected to signal a rise in July to tackle price pressures in the euro zone, where it faces pressure to help clear the way for a new Greece bailout plan. The ECB kept its main refinancing rate at 1.25 percent, but is expected to use higher staff inflation forecasts, to be published during the post-policy meeting news conference, as justification for higher rates to come -- probably starting with a 25 basis point rise to 1.50 percent next month.

• Read more

(Reuters) - Nokia said its technology chief was on indefinite leave after a media report of strategy disagreements, and a second credit agency cut its rating in another blow for the stricken phone maker. Shares in Nokia hovered near 13-year lows after Finnish newspaper Helsingin Sanomat said CTO Richard Green had disagreed with Chief Executive Stephen Elop over Nokia's Microsoft-focused smartphone strategy and might not return.

• Read more

(Reuters) - U.S. stocks slipped for the sixth straight day on Wednesday after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's assessment of the economy kept investors worried about the recovery. The three major U.S. stock indexes reversed gains late in Tuesday's session after the Fed chairman acknowledged the recovery has slowed, but offered no hint the U.S. central bank is considering any more stimulus to accelerate growth.

• Read more

(Reuters) - OPEC talks broke down in acrimony Wednesday without an agreement to raise output after Saudi Arabia failed to convince the oil cartel to lift production. "We were unable to reach an agreement -- this is one of the worst meetings we have ever had," said Ali al-Naimi, oil minister for Saudi Arabia, OPEC's biggest producer.

• Read more

(Reuters) - The United States probably wouldn't be able to maintain its prized AAA sovereign ratings status if it suffered even a "technical" default on its debt, Fitch Ratings said on Wednesday. Members of the Republican party have been flirting with the notion that a brief U.S. default might be an acceptable price to pay if it forces the White House to deal with runaway spending in their negotiations over raising the national debt ceiling.

• Read more

(Reuters) - Exxon Mobil Corp (XOM.N) has made two big new oil discoveries and a natural gas find in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico, news that underscores the importance of the prolific basin to U.S. crude output. Oil and gas exploration in the Gulf was halted by the U.S. government last year after the blowout at BP Plc's (BP.L) (BP.N) Macondo well, and activity in the Gulf remains at levels far below those seen before the oil spill.

• Read more

(Reuters) - Republican lawmakers are "playing with fire" by contemplating even a brief debt default as a means to force deeper government spending cuts, an adviser to China's central bank said on Wednesday. The idea of a technical default -- essentially delaying interest payments for a few days -- has gained backing from a growing number of mainstream Republicans who see it as a price worth paying if it forces the White House to slash spending, Reuters reported on Tuesday.

• Read more