As It Happens

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 aircraft giants showed mixed results in the traditionally slow quarter for new orders but the gap between them in deliveries, which generate most revenue, widened after Boeing handed over a record number of jets for the period. Airbus said it had booked gross orders of 121 aircraft in January-March, beating Boeing's 116. After cancellations and conversions, it slipped behind Boeing with 101 net orders as opposed to 110 for Boeing.

FedEx Corp (FDX.N) is to buy Dutch package delivery firm TNT Express (TNTE.AS) for an agreed 4.4 billion euros ($4.8 billion), stepping up the challenge to rivals United Parcel Service (UPS.N) and Deutsche Post (DPWGn.DE) in Europe. European regulators blocked a 2013 takeover of TNT by UPS due to concerns it would stifle competition, but analysts and executives said on Tuesday FedEx, with its strong air fleet, would complement TNT's sizeable European road network. "Europe, despite the fact that there has been low growth, is still an enormous market both for import and export," FedEx Corp. (FDX.N) Chief Executive Fred Smith told analysts.

BG, which has a market value of $46 billion, said in a statement on Tuesday it was in advanced discussions regarding a possible offer by Shell, whose market capitalisation is $202 billion. Exxon is worth $360 billion. A successful deal would give Shell access to BG's multi-billion dollar projects in Brazil, East Africa, Australia, Kazakhstan and Egypt, including some of the world's most ambitious liquefied natural gas (LNG) projects. The collapse in global oil prices has sparked much speculation about mergers in the industry and BG has often been cited as a potential target.

Oil prices fell more than 1% late Tuesday as industry data showed a larger-than-expected weekly build in U.S. stockpiles and as Saudi Arabia reported record output in March.

Do not trust the rally in oil, says Tom Kloza, Oil Price Information Service co-founder. He thinks oil will retest the lows.

Asia stocks climbed toward a nine-month high, led by Hong Kong, and the dollar weakened before the Bank of Japan decides policy.

Royal Dutch Shell is in talks to acquire BG Group in what would be the biggest energy deal this year, according to several reports.

Republican Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky will need a lot more money from mainstream corporate donors if he wants to mount a serious bid for the White House.

The passenger, who reported being raped and beaten after hailing a ride with the Uber driver in Delhi in early December, sued the online car service in a U.S. federal court in January, claiming the company failed to maintain basic safety procedures. In a filing late on Monday, Uber said the court should dismiss the lawsuit as the victim had sued the wrong party.

Federal regulators have filed civil fraud charges against former NFL cornerback Will Allen and his business partner. They're accused of reaping more than $31 million in a Ponzi scheme that promised high ...

The world's growth potential took a big hit after the 2007-2009 financial crisis and is likely to lag for years, implying that interest rates should likely stay low for quite a while, the International Monetary Fund said Tuesday.

What the Federal Reserve is likely to do with interest rates is not what it should do, former Pimco co-CEO Mohamed El-Erian tells CNBC.

Rand Paul just announced that he's running for...

Bears stage late-day coup: The broad S&P 500 fell into negative territory late Tuesday as traders eyed another rally in crude oil and deal news.

If the folks at Estimize are right, this could be the weakest earnings season in more than five years!

Even talking about possible interest-rate hikes is problematic because it slows economic and jobs growth, a top Fed official said on Tuesday. "That conversation in and of itself is a tightening of policy," Minneapolis Fed President Narayana Kocherlakota told reporters after a speech to the Bismarck-Mandan Chamber of Commerce.

Royal Dutch Shell is in talks to acquire BG Group, according to a report by the Wall Street Journal.

FedE. agreed to buy Dutch parcel-delivery company TNT Express for 4.4 billion euros ($4.8 billion), predicting it can succeed where bigger rival United Parcel Service was blocked by regulators in 2013.

Amid a lack of clear economic leads the U.S. dollar and crude oil could drive stocks Tuesday following Monday's surge in oil prices and concerns about the dollar's strength.

Yahoo Finance's Midday Movers is live each weekday at 12pm ET, covering all the latest news on the markets, the economy and the biggest stories of the day.