Business News

The World Trade Organization (WTO) began the process on Monday of selecting a new director-general to replace Brazil's Roberto Azevedo, who is stepping down a year early at the end of August.

Wall Street's major indexes rose on Monday, building on last week's sharp gains after a surprisingly upbeat jobs report raised bets of a swift recovery from a coronavirus-driven downturn.

* Indexes: Dow up 0.94%, S&P rises 0.29%, Nasdaq dips 0.21% (Updates to open)

Brazilian development bank BNDES has suspended the payment of interest and principal on debt owed by municipalities and states through the end of the year, Chief Executive Gustavo Montezano said on Monday, citing the coronavirus pandemic.

Ryanair boss Michael O'Leary said he believed Britain's coronavirus quarantine will be struck down by the courts or dropped within weeks as some of Europe's biggest airlines prepare to file a legal challenge by the end of Tuesday.

Austria has agreed to a smaller than expected bailout package for Lufthansa unit Austrian Airlines of 450 million euros ($508 million) in loans and grants, people familiar with the matter said on Monday.

Aimmune Therapeutics Inc said on Monday 80% of patients being treated with its drug Palforzia were successfully desensitized to peanut proteins after two years of daily dosing, sending its shares up 6%.

Shares of Gilead Sciences Inc rose as much as 3% on Monday after a report said the U.S. drugmaker had been approached by Britain's AstraZeneca for a possible merger to form one of the world's largest drug companies.

British buinesswoman Amanda Staveley's private equity firm told London's High Court on Monday it had received a "substantially worse" deal than Qatar when its syndicate invested billions of pounds in Barclays during the financial crisis in 2008.

BP will cut about 15% of its workforce in response to the coronavirus crisis and as part of Chief Executive Bernard Looney's plan to shift the oil and gas major to renewable energy, it said on Monday.

* OPEC+ producers have agreed to extend 9.7 mbpd cuts to end-July

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Monday allowed emergency use of a COVID-19 saliva test made by privately held Phosphorus Diagnostics LLC that allows people to send in their saliva samples to the company's laboratory for testing.

* Futures up: Dow 0.82%, S&P 0.49%, Nasdaq 0.21% (Adds quote, details; updates prices)

Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz, Vice Chancellor Werner Kogler and Finance Minister Gernot Bluemel will hold a news conference on Lufthansa unit Austrian Airlines at 5 p.m. (1500 GMT), the government said in a statement on Monday.

Data management software maker Commvault Systems Inc said on Monday it reached an agreement with activist hedge fund Starboard Value and added three independent directors to its board.

* OPEC+ cuts for May and June: https://tmsnrt.rs/2SsCSMN (Recasts with negative prices, updates prices adds comment)

Early indications suggest there has been a "good level of compliance" with Britain's introduction of a 14-day quarantine for those arriving in the country, a spokesman for Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Monday.

Norway, Western Europe's largest oil producer, has no plans to modify its existing plans for production cuts, following the OPEC+ group's agreement to extend a deal on record output cuts to the end of July, the oil ministry said on Monday.

Commvault has reached an agreement with activist hedge fund Starboard Value and added three independent directors to the data management software firm's board, it said on Monday.

Ryanair believes Britain's courts will either strike down a 14-day quarantine for international travellers this week or the government will drop the measure before the end of June, boss Michael O'Leary told Reuters on Monday.