Merrill Lynch, the broker-dealer and investment advisory subsidiary of Bank of America, has agreed to pay $8.9 million to settle Securities and Exchange Commission claims that it failed to disclose a conflict of interest when making decisions on products managed by an outside advisory firm.

The US government has approved the latest sale of crude oil from its Strategic Petroleum Reserve, a move allowed under recent statutes that will inject additional supplies into the world market as Washington tightens screws on Iran.

The US economy is performing well and is no longer in need of the stimulus that propped it up in the wake of the financial crisis, according to one of the members of the Federal Reserve’s rate-setting committee.

Wall Street was on track for its first hat trick of gains since earlier this month, as buyers picked up the pace on Monday and pushed the S&P 500 to within half of 1 percentage point of a record high.

Airline stocks rose in midday trading on Monday, as United Continental, Southwest Airlines and Allegiant all saw gains.

Investors stocked up on retail shares on Monday, with the S&P 500 department store sector advancing for a third consecutive day.

The European Central Bank has imposed three fines totalling almost €5m on different parts of Crédit Agricole for breaches of rules on how banks are supposed to classify their top-grade capital.

Moody’s has extended its review of Italy’s Baa2 ratings in order to get “better visibility on the country’s policy direction” under its coalition government.

A widely-watched indicator regarded by some as a recession predictor moved further toward its inflection point on Monday morning.

Wall Street was mixed by mid-morning as tech declined and investors appeared hopeful ahead of trade talks between the US and China this week.

Brussels has cleared the $80bn merger between Linde, the German chemicals group, and its US rival Praxair after concessions, a milestone in a deal that would create the world’s largest industrial gas supplier.

Tianqi Lithium, China’s biggest producer of the battery raw material, has chosen Morgan Stanley and CLSA for a listing in Hong Kong to fund its $4.07bn purchase of a stake in Chile’s SQM, according to a prospectus.

Venezuela’s national oil company has agreed to pay $2bn compensation to ConocoPhillips of the US, ending a dispute that had disrupted the state-controlled group’s exports.

Online luxury fashion retailer Farfetch fired the starting gun on an initial public offering on Monday, filing plans to US securities regulators that would see it list its shares on the New York Stock Exchange.

Estée Lauder, the make-up and skincare company, on Monday posted upbeat quarterly results in its fiscal fourth quarter but delivered an earnings outlook that missed analyst expectations.

Tyson Foods unveiled on Monday a deal to buy a major supplier to the food services industry as it bolsters its international business and portfolio of value-added meat products, like chicken nuggets.

EU officials have lined up to celebrate Greece’s official exit from eight years of international bailouts today despite lingering concerns about Athens’ economic prosperity in the decades to come.

Hedge funds have boosted their bullish bets on the buck to the highest level since late 2015, according to newly released data that highlight the upbeat sentiment of investors towards the US dollar.

French oil major Total has pulled out of its giant energy project in Iran due to the threat of US sanctions, according to Iran’s oil minister.

Shares in Atlantia, the parent company behind the operator of the bridge that collapsed in Genoa, have fallen by 9 per cent after the country’s leaders indicated they were planning to revoke Autostrade per L’Italia’s licences.

Shares in British luxury goods group Mulberry dropped almost 30 per cent on Monday after it warned House of Fraser’s collapse into administration would cost it as much as £3m.

Shares in G4S dropped by 2.5 per cent after the UK government assumed control of Birmingham prison, which it runs.

Turkey’s currency drifted lower as London dealings got under way on Monday despite a duo of credit ratings cuts at the end of last week and shots being fired at America’s embassy in Ankara.

Monthly rent in Beijing has risen by about a quarter in 2018, according to a research report that has stoked criticism from many of the millions of tenants who live in China’s capital.