Mario Draghi may have bought himself a brief respite from the threat of deflation. The cost? More than a quarter of a trillion dollars.

Dubai stocks gained a fifth day amid declining trading across Gulf Arab equity markets, with some investors taking a long weekend and the start of Ramadan about a week away.

German consumer prices unexpectedly halted their decline in May, offering some good news to policy makers struggling to revive price growth in the 19-nation euro area.

Bayer AG is close to choosing banks to arrange funds for its proposed acquisition of Monsanto Co., according to people familiar with the matter, after the U.S. company rejected the initial $62 billion bid as too low and sought reassurances on the potential financing.

The Dutch government is seeking to raise as much as 1.32 billion euros ($1.5 billion) in an initial public offering of ASR Nederland NV as it begins to pare back its holding in the insurer that was nationalized during the financial crisis.

Euro-area economic confidence rose for a second month in May as the European Central Bank prepares to present updated economic projections that could provide further clues about the impact of its stimulus program.