Business

U.S. President Joe Biden on Friday ordered the faster issuance of pandemic stimulus checks to needy families and increased food aid for children who normally rely on school meals, an effort to ease Americans' burdens while Congress negotiates over his proposed $1.9 trillion economic stimulus package.

Private equity firm TPG has entered into exclusive talks to acquire a minority stake in AT&T Inc's satellite TV division, DirecTV, in a deal that would allow the U.S. wireless carrier to trim its net debt of close to $150 billion, people familiar with the matter said on Friday.

American depositary shares of RLX Technology Inc jumped 86% in their U.S. stock market debut on Friday, giving the Chinese vaping firm a market capitalization of nearly $35 billion.

Brazilian miner Vale SA and state authorities narrowed their gap in a potential settlement deal over the Brumadinho mining disaster to 11 billion reais ($2 billion) before talks fell apart, a person close to the negotiations told Reuters on Friday.

The Tokyo Stock Exchange approved on Friday Toshiba Corp's return to the bourse's first section amid calls from some shareholders for better governance at the Japanese industrial conglomerate.

A bevy of major U.S. earnings reports next week led by Apple, Microsoft and Facebook could help technology and growth stocks reassert their dominance after a recent run by banks, energy and other potential beneficiaries of an economic reopening.