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A flurry of gloomy headlines from Europe spooked already skittish traders, inciting an abrupt selloff for the second-straight day that has left Wall Street deep in the red for the week.

Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti comfortably won a vote of confidence in his new government after promising rigour and fairness in painful reforms to dig the country out of a financial crisis that threatens the entire euro zone.

Wall Street abruptly sold off for the second-straight day as anxious market participants parsed through a flurry of headlines from across the globe.

OPEC is reportedly considering estimates suggesting demand for the cartel's oil in 2012 could be 1 million barrels per day lower than current levels.

The German industrial giant is betting big on the natural gas market, as is evidenced by its new turbine manufacturing plant in North Carolina.

More than 30,000 Greeks took to the streets of Athens in a demonstration against austerity measures while Italy's sweeping reforms sent France and Spain's borrowing costs spiking.

A round of encouraging data on the U.S. economy overshadowed ongoing concerns that Europe's debt crisis is spreading across the globe, lifting stock-index futures into the green.

Spain and France struggled with government bond auctions on Thursday as concerns about the euro zone's sovereign debt crisis continue to build.

Hundreds of protesters marched through New York's financial district Thursday but failed to shut down Wall Street.

Global shares sustained heavy selling after Spain was forced to pay steepest yield in 14 years at its government bond auction, adding to fears that it will join other euro zone states in being unable to finance itself on the private markets.

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- U.S. stocks edged between narrow gains and losses Thursday, with moves constrained by reports of a possible delay for a European Union summit, a still-high level of jobless claims and lukewarm responses to some big-name earnings reports.

By Kirstin Ridley

Stocks opened flat on Thursday after a report in a German newspaper said the German government does not rule out possibly postponing a European Union summit planned for this Sunday.

Chinese-owned NCFA Mining Wednesday fired at least 1,000 miners at Chambishi Copper Mines for participating in a strike over wages, a union official told Dow Jones Newswires Thursday, a sign that tensions between workers and management is still unresolved several years after a dispute ended in violent shootings.

Analysts surveyed: 17

Stock index futures cut gains sharply on Thursday after a report in German newspaper Die Welt said the German government does not rule out the possibility of postponing a European Union summit planned for this Sunday.

EU member states agree that about 100 billion euros is needed to recapitalize the banking system but are split over how to bolster the euro zone's bailout fund.

Zambia, Africa's top copper miner, has suspended the issuance of new mine licenses as the country's newly-elected populist leader Michael Sata tries to exert more control on the sector, officials said Thursday.

AT&T Inc's <T.N> quarterly revenue fell short of Wall Street estimates, as wireless customers spent less than expected in the quarter ahead of the latest Apple Inc <AAPL.O> iPhone launch, sending its shares down 2.5 percent in early trade.

LONDON -(Dow Jones)- SSE PLC (SSE.LN) is interested in pursuing a carbon capture and storage, or CCS, project at its Peterhead electricity plant in Scotland, U.K. Energy Secretary Chris Huhne said Thursday.