Reuters Business News

Canada on Sunday formally welcomed a deal by OPEC and allies to cut oil output by a record amount, saying Ottawa was committed to achieving price certainty and economic stability.

An oil producer deal to make record output cuts will lend some support this week to oil prices that have lost half their value this year as the coronavirus hammers demand.

Saudi Arabia's king Salman, Russia's president Vladimir Putin and his U.S. counterpart Donald Trump welcomed the outcome of OPEC+ meeting during a joint phone call, Saudi state news agency SPA said on late Sunday.

The Saudi energy minister said on Sunday that effective oil supply cuts by OPEC and its allies, a group known as OPEC+, will amount to 12.5 million barrels per day, because of higher output in April from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait.

U.S. President Donald Trump on Sunday praised a deal among the world's top oil producers to cut global petroleum output, saying it would save jobs in the U.S. energy industry.

Mexico will reduce its oil output by 100,000 barrels per day (bpd) from May after top oil producers collectively agreed to cut production by 9.7 million barrels per day at OPEC+ talks, Mexican officials said on Sunday.

Kuwait's oil minister said on Sunday that his country would be cutting more than 1 million barrels per day in actual oil supply, taking into consideration its current April production of around 3.25 million bpd.

The European Union's competition chief told the Financial Times that member countries should buy stakes in companies to counter the threat of Chinese takeovers, with her comments coming as the EU formulates plans to protect its businesses amid the coronavirus outbreak.

The United Arab Emirates is committed to reducing oil production from its current level of 4.1 million barrels per day (MBOPD), energy minister Suhail Al Mazrouei said in a tweet on Sunday.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, U.S. President Donald Trump and Saudi Arabia's King Salman all supported the OPEC+ deal to cut global crude output, the Kremlin said on Sunday.

Mexico's Energy Minister Rocio Nahle said on Sunday oil producers unanimously agreed to cut output by 9.7 million barrels per day from May at OPEC+ talks and thanked OPEC members for their support in reaching the deal.

OPEC, Russia and other oil producing nations agreed on Sunday to cut output by a record amount, representing around 10% of global supply, to support oil prices amid the coronavirus pandemic, sources said.

Kazakhastan's Energy Ministry said on Sunday it confirmed reports that the OPEC+ group of countries had agreed to cut the global oil output by 9.7 million barrels per day for two months starting on May 1.

OPEC, Russia and other oil producing nations were meeting on Sunday in a bid to clinch a deal on the biggest oil cut ever, amounting to 10 percent of global supply, after their initial efforts to support oil prices amid the coronavirus pandemic were blocked by Mexico.

OPEC and its allies will hold a virtual meeting on Sunday evening in a bid to end a standoff that has prevented the finalisation of a global oil supply cut pact, six OPEC+ sources said.

Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak and Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman will chair an OPEC and non-OPEC online meeting later on Sunday, the Azerbaijan energy ministry said.

(This April 11 story has been refiled to replace "boost" with "cut" in paragraph six.)

As the U.S. Federal Reserve rolls out trillions of dollars to blunt the economic fallout of the coronavirus pandemic, there's a notable difference to the last financial crisis: close to zero concern over "moral hazard" - the sticky business of bailing out those whose dilemma is of their own making.

Macy's Inc has hired investment bank Lazard Ltd to explore options for bolstering its finances after the department store operator lost most of its revenue as it shut down all its stores as a result of the coronavirus outbreak, people familiar with the matter said.

The founders of Malaysia's AirAsia Group Bhd will not take salaries and its staff has agreed to an as much as 75% cut in pay due to the impact of the novel coronavirus outbreak on the airline, its chief executive said late on Saturday.