Securities regulators are probing "fund-of-funds" firms that channel investors' money into hedge funds, looking at supervision of client assets and potential conflicts of interest, according to a person familiar with the matter.

The probe is part of a sweep of about a dozen firms by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations, the source said, declining to be named because they were not authorized to speak to the media.

An SEC spokesman declined to comment.

The move is one of the SEC's broadest examinations yet of the fund-of-funds industry, which manages some $735 billion in assets, according to hedge fund data tracker InvestHedge.

Fund-of-funds firms typically collect fees of 1 to 2 percent and hand over investors' money to multiple hedge fund managers that they claim to carefully select. The industry has come under scrutiny in the past few years after several firms faced huge losses from investing with convicted Ponzi schemer Bernard Madoff.

The SEC inquiry, first reported by The Wall Street Journal on Friday, will investigate whether the firms are properly supervising their clients' money and working to avoid potential conflicts of interest.

The newspaper said the SEC's initial inquiry involved mid-sized fund-of-funds firms overseeing $100 million to $15 billion in assets, and that it could be expanded to include alternative investment advisers focused on private equity and other registered advisers catering to pension funds. The Journal cited people familiar with the matter.

The mixed ruling in Delaware's Chancery Court gave no clear victory to either of the companies, whose relationship turned from cozy to competitive and ended up in court in 2008.

Still to be litigated is a lawsuit Craigslist filed in San Francisco against eBay alleging its larger rival used its board seat to glean confidential information about the classified ad business.

EBay sued its smaller rival in 2008, claiming a rights plan Craigslist adopted diluted eBay's stake from 28.4 percent to 24.85 percent.

"More fortunate than Goliath, eBay leaves this field with only a gash across its forehead; less fortunate than David, Craigslist leaves this field with something less than total victory," wrote Chancellor William Chandler III of Delaware's Court of Chancery in his opinion.

EBay, which has estimated Craigslist's value at several billions of dollars, has always maintained that the courts would reinstate its true stake.

Craigslist, meanwhile, has been anxious to protect its decision-making and trade secrets after eBay launched a competing ad site, and Thursday's ruling will keep eBay out of the classified company's boardroom.

EBay claimed victory in a statement released on Thursday which did not mention the board seat.

"EBay brought this suit to protect its own shareholders and preserve its valuable investment in Craigslist," it said.

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The Labor Department said the number of people requesting unemployment benefits for the first time fell to the lowest level in two months, adding to signs that employers aren't resorting to staff cuts as economic growth slows.

First-time claims fell to 451,000 last week from a revised 478,000 a week earlier. Economists had been expecting claims to fall to 470,000, according to Thomson Reuters.

Claims are still at levels that indicate the jobs market is weak and rapid hiring isn't likely anytime soon. But investors have taken solace in recent improvements in employment data that suggest the economy will continue to grow slowly during the rest of the year. Traders concerned about the potential for the economy falling back into recession drove stocks lower throughout August.

But stocks have rallied since the beginning of the month as economic indicators, including the Labor Department's monthly employment report, have been better than forecast.

Employment reports have become investors' primary focus recently because without robust hiring, the economy is likely to remain sluggish. People worried about their jobs have cut back on spending, which further slows the recovery. When the economy is growing rapidly and companies are hiring, weekly requests for unemployment benefits fall below 400,000.

Ahead of the opening bell, Dow Jones industrial average futures rose 54, or 0.5 percent, to 10,446. Standard & Poor's 500 index futures rose 7.20, or 0.7 percent, to 1,106.50, while Nasdaq 100 index futures rose 13.50, or 0.7 percent, to 1,891.00.

That Dow has gained 3.7 percent since the beginning of September. Stocks have climbed all but one day so far this month. Major indexes took a pause from the recent rally on Tuesday when worries about European government debt problems flared up early in the week.

After some European nations successfully auctioned new debt this week, those worries have dissipated. European markets got an additional lift after the U.S. jobs report. Britain's FTSE 100 rose 1.1 percent, Germany's DAX index gained 0.8 percent, and France's CAC-40 rose 1.2 percent.

There were concerns during the spring that mounting European debt would stunt a global recovery. Stocks fell sharply through much of the spring because of those worries.

Meanwhile, bond prices traded in a tight range. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note, which moves opposite its price, rose to 2.68 percent from 2.66 percent late Wednesday. Its yield is often used to help set interest rates on mortgages and other consumer loans.