(Reuters) - The European Central Bank moved to increase its financial firepower in the euro zone debt crisis on Thursday, and European Union leaders met for their seventh summit of the year to try to halt the contagion. The ECB, in charge of monetary policy in the 16-nation euro area, said it would almost double its capital to 10.76 billion euros to cope with increased credit risk and market volatility, with euro zone members providing the increase.

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(Reuters) - Stocks were little changed on Thursday as indexes struggled to break through a technical range and economic bellwether FedEx posted results that missed estimates but offered a bullish forecast. FedEx Corp (FDX.N) said it was more optimistic about the remainder of the year based on strong package volumes and increased demand for our services. Its shares rose 2.2 percent at $94.47.

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(Reuters) - Chevron Corp (CVX.N) said it would spend $4 billion to develop its Big Foot project in the Gulf of Mexico, even as tougher rules and higher costs loom for deepwater operators. Chevron, the second-largest U.S. oil company behind Exxon Mobil (XOM.N), has continued to invest in the Gulf of Mexico even as uncertainty over costs and the U.S. government's new safety regulations linger following the BP Plc (BP.L) oil spill disaster.

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(Reuters) - U.S. jobless claims dipped for a second week, suggesting growth in the labor market, but data on home construction showed that sector remains stressed even as the economy shows signs of a pick up. Initial claims fell 3,000 to a seasonally adjusted 420,000, the Labor Department said on Thursday, in line with forecasts. The four-week moving average of claims, considered a better measure of labor market trends, touched a fresh two-year low.

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(Reuters) - The U.S. futures regulator on Thursday set out its most aggressive steps yet to prevent speculators from distorting commodity markets, but it relented on several provisions that were fiercely opposed by Wall Street banks and large commodity traders. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission's proposal to set position limits showed the agency had taken heed of objections raised since January, when it first put forward a plan to cap the influx of investor capital that some blamed for driving oil and grain prices to record highs in 2008.

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(Reuters) - European Union leaders will be warned on Thursday that a rolling debt crisis poses a systemic threat to the euro zone as they seek to paper over divisions at a summit on how to restore confidence. European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso will tell the 27 leaders that the crisis requires new steps by the whole single currency area and specific measures by member states such as Spain and Portugal to put their finances in order.

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(Reuters) - Bank of America (BAC.N) has appealed a bankruptcy court order that it must pay Lehman Brothers Holding Inc (LEHMQ.PK) about $595 million, according to court documents. The bank said in papers filed on Wednesday it would post a $660 million bond and asked the court to stay the enforcement of the ruling. A hearing on the issue is set for January 19, according to court documents.

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(Reuters) - A deal that President Barack Obama struck with Republicans to extend tax cuts for nearly every working American and spur job growth moves to the House of Representatives for passage as early as Thursday. Many of Obama's fellow Democrats in that chamber strongly oppose the measure as favoring the wealthy, and are still angry with him for cutting the deal with Republicans without them.

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(Reuters) - Global regulators said on Thursday that banks in low debt countries like Australia and Denmark will get more leeway to comply with tough new liquidity rules. World leaders agreed in Seoul last month that the Basel III bank capital and liquidity rules would be phased in between 2013 and 2018. They replace Basel II which failed to ensure banks had enough capital to withstand the credit crunch, leaving taxpayers to inject trillions of dollars to shore up the financial system.

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(Reuters) - Halfway down a muddy slope in the Russian taiga, a team of welders shelters in a small tent to solder two giant steel pipes, bringing Russia 24 meters closer to its Asian oil El Dorado. When the 4,070-km East Siberia-Pacific Ocean (ESPO) oil pipeline's second stage is finished in 2013, it will be the world's longest. At a cost of $25 billion, it dwarfs all other infrastructure projects in post-Soviet Russia.

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