China plans to open 10 new air corridors to help ease chronic air traffic congestion and address the problem of frequent flight delays, the official China Daily said on Wednesday, citing a senior aviation official.

The dollar took a step back on Wednesday but retained a bulk of its overnight gains after currency bulls scooped up the greenback following the tumble induced by weak U.S. non-farm payrolls late last week.

Daimler AG on Tuesday said it would expand its cooperation with partner Nissan Motor Co Ltd to develop a mid-sized pickup truck for Mercedes-Benz as the German premium automaker seeks to narrow its sales gap with rival BMW.

U.S. planemaker Boeing (BA.N) beat European rival Airbus (AIR.PA) in net new orders and deliveries in the first quarter, according to figures released on Tuesday.

The French government has been buying shares in French carmaker Renault SA (RENA.PA) to increase its stake to up to 19.73 percent with the aim of blocking a resolution at the next annual general meeting that could reduce its control over the company.

Singapore Telecommunications, Southeast Asia's largest telecommunications operator by revenue, is buying U.S.-based cyber-security firm Trustwave for $810 million, marking its biggest acquisition outside the main telecoms sector.

Wall Street is greeting what is expected to be the worst earnings season since 2009 with a gigantic shrug. Though there has been some selling in recent weeks, there's been no panic dumping of stocks, even though forecasts for S&P 500 first-quarter earnings have tumbled since Jan. 1, thanks to the surging dollar, falling oil prices and another severe winter. The earnings season unofficially kicks off Wednesday with results from aluminum company Alcoa (AA.N).

Oil prices fell towards $58 a barrel on Wednesday as industry data showed a larger-than-expected weekly increase in U.S. stockpiles and as Saudi Arabia reported record output in March.

Global stocks remained upbeat on Wednesday as a $70 billion mega-deal in the European oil and gas sector stoked the merger and acquisition fever that has gripped investors this week.

Royal Dutch Shell (RDSa.L) agreed to buy smaller rival BG Group (BG.L) for $70 billion in the first oil super-merger in more than a decade to close the gap with the world's largest oil firm U.S. ExxonMobil (XOM.N).

Euro zone sentiment improved for the sixth straight month in April as investors took heart from the European Central Bank's bond-buying program, raising the current situation component of the Sentix index to its highest in almost four years.

Price discounting drove growth in all of the euro zone's major economies in March, helping business activity increase at its fastest rate for nearly a year, a survey showed on Tuesday.

FedEx Corp (FDX.N) is seeking to buy Dutch package delivery firm TNT Express for an agreed 4.4 billion euros ($4.8 billion), aiming to succeed where United Parcel Service (UPS.N) failed two years ago when its bid was blocked by competition regulators.

The rising value of the dollar is hurting American businesses and could ultimately result in a slowdown in future U.S. growth, BlackRock (BLK.N) chief executive officer Larry Fink warned in a letter scheduled to go out to shareholders next week.

The Australian dollar gained more than 1 percent against the U.S. dollar, on track for its biggest daily rise in more than two weeks, after the Reserve Bank of Australia surprised many investors by refraining from cutting interest rates.

Brent crude prices fell almost $1 a barrel on Tuesday, with an Iranian delegation in Beijing this week to push for more oil sales.

Global stocks rose on Tuesday, as many European bourses re-opening after the Easter break took on the positive tone set by U.S. markets overnight, with sentiment boosted by a potential trans-Atlantic acquisition.

U.S. initial public offerings by venture-backed companies fell to a two-year low in the first quarter of 2015, according to data from the National Venture Capital Association and Thomson Reuters.

The timing of the Federal Reserve's interest rate hike, which would be its first in nearly a decade, is unclear and for now policymakers must watch that the U.S. economy's surprising recent weakness does not signal a more substantial slowdown, a top Fed official said on Monday.

U.S. companies can expect the same treatment as those from the rest of the world, receiving neither special benefits nor punishment, if there is a further commercial opening between Cuba and the United States, Cuba's foreign trade minister said.

U.S. media company Viacom Inc (VIAB.O) said it will undertake a restructuring, including cutting jobs, abandoning some acquired titles and reorganizing three of its domestic network groups into two new organizations, to drive growth.

Oil prices jumped more than 5 percent on Monday as traders reassessed how quickly Iran might increase exports after a preliminary nuclear deal and anticipated that a months-long rise in U.S. crude inventories may be slowing.

U.S. stocks rose on Monday as expectations the Federal Reserve could hold off longer on raising interest rates offset concerns over Friday's surprisingly weak jobs report.

Greece must reach an outline funding agreement with its lenders at a meeting of euro zone finance ministers on April 24, its finance minister told a Greek newspaper on Monday.

Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis said on Sunday that Greece "intends to meet all obligations to all its creditors, ad infinitum," seeking to quell default fears ahead of a big loan payment Athens owes the IMF later this week.

Asian shares rose and the dollar steadied but remained under pressure on Monday, after a dismal U.S. jobs report led investors to pare bets the U.S. Federal Reserve would hike interest rates anytime soon.

Holcim (HOLN.VX) looked at buying Germany's HeidelbergCement (HEIG.DE) towards the end of 2013 before agreeing to merge with France's Lafarge (LAFP.PA), a Swiss newspaper reported on Sunday, citing two sources.

Argentina's central bank will send regulators to the headquarters of Citibank Argentina on Monday, the head of the monetary authority has said, the latest move between the bank and the state over defaulted debt.

Hirotoshi Ogura, a self-described “factory geek”, is Daikin Industries' (6367.T) master of doing more with less – and part of the reason Japan’s recovery remains stuck in the slow lane.

Ukraine has asked for 1 billion cubic meters of gas imports from Russia in April, trebling the amount it received in March, Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said on Saturday.