(Reuters) - AT&T Inc plans to pay $39 billion for Deutsche Telekom AG's T-Mobile USA to create a new U.S. mobile market leader, but the pricey purchase is likely to attract intense antitrust scrutiny over potentially higher customer bills. The deal gives AT&T, the No. 2 US mobile service often criticized for its poor network performance, additional capacity to expand and meet ever increasing demands for videos and data from devices such as Apple Inc's iPhone.

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(Reuters) - Billionaire investor Warren Buffett believes Japan's devastating earthquake is the kind of extraordinary event that creates a buying opportunity for shares in Japanese companies. Japan, the world's third-largest economy, has been battling to bring an overheating nuclear plant under control after it was battered by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami that rattled global markets and prompted massive intervention in currency markets by the Group of Seven industrial nations.

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(Reuters) - Commodities trader Glencore is seen clinging on to plans for a bumper London listing by the end of May, despite global stock market uncertainty, according to a Reuters poll of fund managers. The survey of 10 fund managers from investment houses controlling total global assets of $3 trillion found a majority assuming the deal will proceed before a summer listings hiatus, despite the near panic on markets caused by the Japan disaster.

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(Reuters) - Japan's devastating earthquake and tsunami will depress growth briefly before reconstruction kicks off and gives the beleaguered economy a boost, the World Bank said in a report on Monday. It was too early to make accurate estimates, the report noted, but added that Japan's experience of recovering from the 1995 Kobe earthquake bodes well for its ability to cope with the triple disaster of this month's earthquake, tsunami and nuclear crisis.

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(Reuters) - Tiffany & Co (TIF.N) gave a stronger-than-expected sales outlook for its fiscal year despite the impact of the disasters that hit Japan, its second largest market, and the luxury jeweler's shares rose more than 6 percent. Tiffany estimated on Monday that global sales would rise 12 percent to 14 percent this fiscal year on gains of more than 20 percent in Europe and Asia outside of Japan, markets that have led the company's torrid growth in recent years.

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TOKYO (Reuters)- Sony Corp (6758.T) said it would partially restart a lithium ion battery factory in Tochigi prefecture on Tuesday, leaving six plants, which make a range of devices from integrated circuit cards to Blu-ray discs, still closed. The consumer electronics giant is one of dozens of Japanese companies to shut factories and slash output following the March 11 earthquake and tsunami which have disrupted supplies.

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(Reuters) - Oil prices rose by over $2 a barrel on Monday as a wave of U.N.-mandated airstrikes on Libya and proliferating unrest in the Middle East fanned concerns about oil supply from the region. Brent crude for May was up $1.80 to $115.73 a barrel by 1234 GMT after earlier trading over $116, while U.S. crude for April gained $1.81 at $102.88 a barrel.

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(Reuters) - U.S. stocks bounced for a second day on Friday as Group of Seven nations moved to calm markets rattled by Japan's nuclear crisis and oil prices fell after Libya said it would cease military actions. In a move to reassure markets anxious about the nuclear crisis in quake-ravaged Japan, the Bank of Japan bought billions of dollars to restrain a soaring yen and were followed by U.S. and European central banks.

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(Reuters) - Japan bought billions of dollars to restrain a soaring yen on Friday, backed by action from European central banks as the world's richest nations moved to calm markets made nervous by Japan's nuclear crisis. The moves are the first joint intervention in currency markets by the Group of Seven leading powers since they came to the aid of the newly launched euro in 2000, and signal the weight of concern about the wider impact of events in Japan.

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(Reuters) - General Mills is set to pay 800 million euros ($1.12 billion) for half the Yoplait yogurt brand, allowing the company to settle a management dispute and pursue emerging markets growth. Private equity fund PAI Partners and French dairy co-operative Sodiaal said on Friday they were in exclusive talks with the U.S. maker of Haagen-Dazs ice cream and Cheerios cereals, paving the way for a sale and confirming what sources told Reuters on Thursday.

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