US stock markets are trading sharply higher after a set of strong corporate results and a 3% rise crude oil prices.

The Dow rose more than 1.5%, while the S&P 500 was up more than 1%. All 10 major S&P sectors were higher, led by the 2.15% rise in the energy sector.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq was around 0.8% higher.

Crude oil prices were up 3% on hopes that Opec and non-Opec producers would tackle a global supply glut.

Exxon was up 1.8% while Chevron rose 3.2%.

3M was up 4.9% at $144.28, giving the biggest boost to the Dow, while Johnson & Johnson's 2.9% rise to $99.20 boosted the S&P 500.

Both companies reported better-than-expected quarterly profits. 

Image source, Hasbro

Toymaker Hasbro is being sued by a fonts company over allegations it used a typeface to market its My Little Pony products without permission.

Minneapolis-based Font Brothers says the manufacturer failed to buy a "special licence" to allow the font's use on its toy packaging and related services.

The company is seeking damages of $150,000 (£104,820) per infringement.

A spokeswoman for Hasbro was unable to comment.

Read more on BBC Technology.

The UK's FTSE 100 share index recovered ground to finish higher at the close as a rebound in oil prices and a rally in battered mining stocks lifted the market.

The index was up 0.59% at 5,911 points at the close.

Germany's Dax finished up 0.89% at 9822 points, and in France the Cac 40 closed 1.05% higher at 4356. 

Image source, Getty Images

Wall Street is awaiting Apple's quarterly results after the bell today. Its shares are flat at $99.30 in New York but have fallen almost 14% in the past three months on fears that the California-based company will not be able to maintain the stellar levels of sales growth for the iPhone it has long enjoyed. 

Apple is still worth more than $550bn, which is now only about $60bn more than Google's parent company, Alphabet. Shares in Alphabet have risen 36% in the past 12 months and were down a touch at $728.78. 

Image source, Getty Images

Downing Street has played down reports that Number 10 was distancing itself from the Chancellor over Google's £130m back taxes. Mr Osborne had described the deal as a "victory" and a "major success".

 "The Prime Minister and the Chancellor are of the same mind on this," a Downing Street spokesman said. "This was a good deal. There is no difference in the position - the Prime Minister and Chancellor's view on this is the same."

The spokesman said the tax settlement was agreed with Google by HMRC, adding: "No ministers were involved in agreeing this deal. It is done by HMRC on an operational basis."

He added: "The key point on this is that HMRC is satisfied with the tax due and what it has collected."

The spokesman said he was aware of "speculation" that France is seeking more than 500 million euros from Google, but added:

"Clearly at this stage, there's no outcome, so it does remain to be seen how much they get."

Image source, Getty Images

Labour's shadow chancellor John McDonnell has written to Chancellor George Osborne over Google's £130m tax deal. Mr McDonnell asked whether the Treasury had signed the deal off, and details of any Treasury discussions with HMRC, the firm, and Number 10. He also asked whether the programme of HMRC staff cuts would be halted.

Tom Edgington
Senior Broadcast Journalist, World At One, Radio 4

In his first interview, the head of business tax at HMRC has defended the way that taxes have been collected from Google on BBC Radio 4's World At One.

Image source, Getty Images

Here's an interesting graph, external from Bloomberg Business. Norway is a big exporter of crude oil - which has plunged in price. But the country is also a big exporter of salmon - and scarcity has pushed prices up, the news agency says. One standard 4.5kg salmon now costs more than a barrel of crude in kroner, it says.

U.S. stocks have risen as oil edged up and investors looked ahead to the Federal Reserve's policy meeting and Apple's results.

The Dow Jones industrial average was up 38.49 points, or 0.24%, at 15,923.71; the S&P 500 rose 5.47 points, or 0.29%, to 1,882.55; the Nasdaq Composite index gained 18.28 points, or 0.4%, rising to 4,536.77. 

The FTSE 100 has turned positive after a negative start - investors have been nervous about falling oil prices. The stock index is now up 0.02% at 5,877 points.

Germany's Dax is up 0.28% at 9,761, and the Cac 40 is 0.34% higher at 4,325 points. 

The World at One
BBC Radio 4

Jim Harra, HMRC's business tax director general, has insisted that Google agreed to pay all the money it owed in back taxes.

He told BBC Radio 4's World at One:

Today Programme
BBC Radio 4

In case you missed it, here's the interview with Jon Moynihan, from the Vote Leave campaign, talking about Brexit on the Today programme.

Bank of England governor Mark Carney has told the Treasury Select Committee he expects his colleague Andrew Bailey to take up his new position as chief executive of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in three to six months given that his successor at the Prudential Regulation Authority (within the Bank of England) is found. 

China's anti-corruption agency has announced that the head of the country's National Bureau of Statistics is being investigated for severe disciplinary violations, a phrase which usually refers to corruption. 

The announcement came hours after Wang Baoan had briefed reporters at a news conference in Beijing about China's economy in 2015. 

Various prominent political figures have been ensnared in President Xi Jinping's 3-year-old anti-corruption crackdown.

More than 100 senior officials and military officers have been charged with crimes or placed under criminal investigation, with no sign of the campaign abating. 

Mr Wang was appointed chief of the statistics bureau in April last year. He previously served as vice minister of finance.  

Image source, Getty Images

JPMorgan Chase has agreed to pay $1.42bn to settle most of the litigation relating to the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers, Reuters reports.

Lehman Brothers accused JPMorgan Chase of draining its of cash just before the US bank declared bankruptcy in September 2008, setting off the global financial crisis.