• World stocks hit record after Fed minutes (Reuters)
• OPEC extends oil output cut by nine months to fight glut (Reuters)
• Father and Brother of Manchester Bomber Arrested in Libya (BBG)
• In testing Montana vote for Trump, Republican caught up in brawl (Reuters)
• NATO to Take New Counterterrorism Measures (WSJ)
• Trump’s Toxic Budget Is a Cheap Win With the Right People (BBG)
• Pope ‘terrific’, Saudi ‘spectacular’: Trump waxes lyrical on foreign tour (Reuters)
• Hedge Funds Squeezed by World’s Highest Rents Are Moving Out (BBG)
• Talent Battle: Hedge Funds vs. Silicon Valley (WSJ)
• China Hitches Yuan to the Dollar, Buying Rare Calm (WSJ)
• China’s Downgrade Could Lead to a Mountain of Debt (BBG)
• Data Mining to Find Tax Cheaters (BBG)
• In first under Trump, U.S. warship challenges Beijing’s claims in South China Sea (Reuters)
• Change and Culture Collide in America’s Prison Capital (WSJ)
• Iran says it has built third underground ballistic missile factory (Reuters)
• Indonesian police launch raid as Jakarta attacks linked to Islamic State (Reuters)
• Lack of new launches leaves Ford playing catchup with GM (Reuters)
• Ford to name new heads for Europe, Asia: FT (Reuters)
• Deerfield Partners Snared in Probe of Leaking Consultants (BBG)
• Beijing Moves to Ease Jitters Over Converted Commercial Housing (Caixin)
• Trump Turns His Back on International Tourists (BBG)
• Israeli police question U.S. casino mogul Adelson in Netanyahu probe (Reuters)
• Philippines deploys helicopters in battle to retake city from Islamist rebels (Reuters)
• Sears posts first quarterly profit in nearly two years on cost cuts (Reuters)
• Best Buy quarterly comparable sales rise unexpectedly (Reuters)
• Why a Giant New Eataly Won’t Sell Parmesan Cheese or Parma Ham (BBG)

Overnight Media Digest

WSJ

– The Pentagon conducted a navy patrol in the South China Sea, U.S. officials said, the first such operation under U.S. President Donald Trump designed to send a signal to China about U.S. intentions to keep critical sea lanes open in the Pacific Ocean. on.wsj.com/2rWhAY9

– Federal Reserve officials expected at their policy meeting this month that it would “soon be appropriate” to raise short-term interest rates, a signal the U.S. central bank could move in June at its next gathering. on.wsj.com/2qcsDzP

– Federal prosecutors filed insider-trading charges against one of Wall Street’s best sources of tradable information from the government, accusing him of relaying a series of tips from an obscure bureaucrat inside a key health-care agency to traders at a New York hedge fund. on.wsj.com/2rju3J2

– Sears Holdings Corp sued a vendor for demanding what the retailer says are unjustified changes to their supply contract, the latest signal of supplier discontent with Sears’ turnaround strategy. on.wsj.com/2qRlW56

– Activist investor Dan Loeb plans to publicly push for changes to the complicated combination and breakup of Dow Chemical and DuPont, according to a presentation reviewed by the Wall Street Journal. on.wsj.com/2qYqy7N

FT

– Shares of Bunge held its gains on Wednesday after Glencore disclosed a takeover approach. Glencore said it had made an “informal approach” to Bunge about a “possible consensual business combination”. Bunge later said it was not in discussions.

– U.S. academic Ted Malloch who claimed to be Donald Trump’s likely ambassador to the EU, was never under consideration for the position. He had caused alarm among European politicians by celebrating Brexit and predicting the “collapse” of the euro and the EU.

– The U.S. steel industry is pushing for the Trump administration to take a sweeping view of what constitutes national security, seeking a crackdown on steel imports from China, South Korea and others. Industry executives argued that illegal dumping of below-cost steel threatened their ability to supply everything from armour plating and other speciality metals used by the military.

– British security officials investigating the Manchester attack are considering withholding sensitive information from the United States after a series of damaging leaks. UK intelligence and security agencies are frustrated by leaks of up-to-date information about the attack which appears to have been disclosed to media by U.S. counterparts without permission.

NYT

– Federal Reserve Board officials said at a meeting early this month that they wanted to see evidence of stronger economic growth before continuing to increase the Fed’s benchmark interest rate, according to minutes of the meeting published on Wednesday. nyti.ms/2qm4yCc

– Prosecutors say an employee of a Washington consulting firm obtained information about policy decisions at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. nyti.ms/2qmguUk

– Fox News on Wednesday urged a federal court to discipline a lawyer it said had failed to vet basic facts when he filed a lawsuit accusing the network of using fake Twitter accounts to harass a former host. nyti.ms/2qmkdRX

– Ken Kurson, a close friend of President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, said on Wednesday that he will leave his job as editor of the Observer, the cheeky chronicler of New York City media and politics that Kushner purchased in 2006. nyti.ms/2qmmoFb

– A Latin American competitor to Uber, 99, has raised $100 million from SoftBank Group Corp of Japan to fuel growth, the Brazilian start-up’s chief executive says. nyti.ms/2qmkLat

– A bill to dismantle the Affordable Care Act that narrowly passed the House this month would leave 14 million more people uninsured next year than under President Barack Obama’s health law — and 23 million more in 2026, the Congressional Budget Office said Wednesday. Some of the nation’s sickest would pay much more for health care. nyti.ms/2qmhjfS

Canada

THE GLOBE AND MAIL

** A key member of the U.S. Federal Reserve warned against destroying trading partnerships between the U.S., Canada and Mexico and said it would eliminate jobs and hurt his country’s competitiveness. (tgam.ca/2rTrwm2)

** Kinder Morgan Inc and its bankers have tempered their hopes for pricing a $1.75 billion initial public offering of shares in the pipeline company’s Canadian unit. Kinder Morgan Canada has priced the shares at $17 apiece, down from a previously expected range of $19 to $22, according to a source familiar with the issue. (tgam.ca/2rTCOGV)

** Metrolinx is going back to court over a controversial $770 million light rail vehicle deal with Bombardier Transportation, questioning a key part of the judge’s decision that preserved the contract. (tgam.ca/2rCAo2a)

** The number of people who died of opioid overdoses in Ontario jumped 11 per cent in the first six months of 2016, according to new figures showing that the epidemic is rapidly moving east from Western Canada. (tgam.ca/2qZJa9D)

NATIONAL POST

** The Bank of Montreal is starting to see “early indications” that Toronto’s overheated housing market is “cooling,” executives said Wednesday. While the Ontario government’s plan to rein in soaring house prices in Canada’s biggest city is still in its early days, BMO chief financial officer Tom Flynn said there are “signs that their policies might have the desired effect.” (bit.ly/2qZbnv8)

Britain

The Times

Anthony Grabiner is to step down as chairman of Taveta Investments, the vehicle behind Philip Green’s retail empire, in the latest high-profile departure from the group. bit.ly/2rRZGGA

Brexit poses little risk to financial stability in the eurozone, the European Central Bank has said in a robust dismissal of British warnings that a punitive deal for London would backfire on the continent. bit.ly/2rRYbbs

The Guardian

Anglo-Swiss chemicals firm Ineos has bought the oil and gas business of Dong Energy for £1 billion ($1.30 billion), a major milestone in the Danish company’s switch from hydrocarbons to renewable energy. bit.ly/2rS4ID3

Seán Fitzpatrick, chair of Anglo Irish, has walked free from a Dublin court after being acquitted of misleading auditors about multimillion-euro loans. bit.ly/2rRNdCV

The Telegraph

A 200 million pound settlement between Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc and thousands of aggrieved shareholders has been hit by further delays after it emerged that lawyers were having difficulty tracking down some investors to ask them to agree to the deal. bit.ly/2rSkGgL

Aston Martin has moved to head off speculation it is revving up for a listing as the legendary sports car company reported a strong acceleration in sales. bit.ly/2rRPqyn

Sky News

Sainsbury’s announced on Tuesday that it would no longer be using the Fairtrade Certification mark on some of its tea, including its Red and Gold tea labels. bit.ly/2rS6VhO

Manchester Arena suicide bomber Salman Abedi had links to an Islamic State cell which operated in the city, and knew one of the terror group’s most prolific recruiters, Sky News can reveal. bit.ly/2rS29AW

The Independent

Police and security services have found bomb-making materials which could be primed for imminent attacks in the extensive raids following the Manchester suicide bombing. ind.pn/2rRTdeT