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Brent crude was on course to settle at its highest level since the start of the pandemic, after Opec and its allies stuck with their plan to only gradually release more barrels into a strengthening oil market.

The international oil benchmark rose almost 3 per cent to $71.34 a barrel on Tuesday as Opec+ producers led by Saudi Arabia and Russia said that while demand is recovering, there are still persistent uncertainties linked to the pandemic that stop them increasing output further.

After a 30-minute virtual meeting, Opec+ ministers agreed to push on with their plan to slowly release more oil on to the market in July. Following increases in May and June, this would amount to a total increase of 2m barrels a day over the period.

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Coronavirus digest

• Thousands of Indian doctors wore black armbands to protest against a guru and ally of Narendra Modi who claims yoga and traditional medicine offer stronger protection against Covid-19 than vaccines.

• Eurozone inflation rose to 2 per cent in May, the first time the rate has surpassed the European Central Bank’s target in more than two years.

• Peru has announced an enormous revision to its coronavirus death toll, nearly tripping the number of deaths previously registered.

• The World Health Organization has reclassified Covid-19 variants under a new nomenclature that uses a Greek lettering system.

• Taiwan, which contained the virus for more than a year, was not prepared for a surge of infections and must now switch gears, writes Kathrin Hille.

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In the news

China boosts measures to cool renminbi rally Beijing is resorting to measures not used since the global financial crisis to temper a rally in its currency as the country battles rising commodity prices and slowing growth, with analysts predicting more actions to come.

EU seals pact on forcing multinationals to report profits and tax After years of stalled talks, EU negotiators have agreed rules to force large multinational companies to disclose publicly where they book profits and pay tax in the bloc as part of Europe’s drive to clamp down on corporate tax avoidance. 

Russian gang likely hacked meat supplier, US says A criminal organisation that is probably based in Russia was the origin of a ransomware attack that has disrupted animal slaughtering at JBS, the White House said after it was informed by the world’s largest meat processor. Reduced operations threatened to curtail beef supplies and drive up prices. 

Biden addresses racial wealth gap US president Joe Biden called for a narrowing of America’s racial wealth gap on a visit to Tulsa, Oklahoma, the site of one of the most brutal attacks on a black community in US history. Biden also announced he would tap vice-president Kamala Harris to lead his administration’s efforts to strengthen national voting rights. (FT, Guardian)

Naomi Osaka becomes latest athlete to challenge sporting norms The tennis star’s withdrawal from the French Open over post-match press duties has highlighted how a new generation of top athletes is challenging the power of the leagues they work for and advocating for social change. Get our must-read briefing on the business of sport with our Scoreboard newsletter, delivered Saturdays.

Federal Reserve’s Bullard: US jobs market is tighter than it looks In an interview with the Financial Times, James Bullard, president of the St Louis Fed, said that despite data showing non-farm payrolls still 8m jobs short of pre-pandemic levels, other indicators were far closer to normal, matching anecdotal evidence of worker shortages.

Wall Street’s gravy train hits the buffers The fees US investment banks earn from special purpose acquisition vehicles have plunged in the past two months to slightly more than $430m from initial public offerings and mergers between Spacs and private companies, according to data from Refinitiv.

The day ahead

Huawei launches new operating system The Chinese telecoms company will launch its new Harmony operating system for smartphones on June 2. The move, which will make the group no longer reliant on Google’s Android technology, will seek to aid the company in recovering from the hit to its mobile phone business because of US sanctions. (Reuters)

Australia latest growth figures published Data is expected to show that the country’s economy is larger now than it was before the pandemic. But going forward much will rely on vaccine rollout. (The New Daily)

What else we’re reading

China’s three-child policy may not halt demographic free fall In its swing from restricting to encouraging births, the government needs to avoid making past mistakes. The population control apparatus has been set up to collect fines and enforce sterilisations. A very different approach will be necessary to support births, writes Yuan Yang.

How Swiss asset managers opened their doors to Lex Greensill In late 2014, David Solo lent A$12.2m to a little-known supply-chain finance group with eye-catching claims. Over the next few years, the American would prove a vital link between Lex Greensill and a Swiss asset management industry that had promised clients the investments to help them escape the punishing era of negative interest rates.

Climate summit jamborees could use a good clean-up In the world of climate change, one summit rules them all: the COP, the Conference of the Parties. But the meetings have swollen in size — from about 4,000 delegates at the first COP in Berlin to a peak of nearly 30,000 in Paris in 2015. Ahead of COP26 this autumn, it is an opportune moment to consider if the world still needs this mega-COP format, writes Leslie Hook.

How the world ran out of everything The Japanese carmaker Toyota is falling victim to a historic advance in industrial efficiency that it helped pioneer. Just In Time manufacturing helps companies save money by minimising the need to stockpile supplies, but the pandemic has upended the entire strategy. (NYT)

Is inflation coming back for good? The current consensus is that price rises in commodities and goods markets have clear pandemic-related explanations and that the risk of a resurgence in global inflation is remote. This view is still the mainstream but it is losing supporters. In the first part of a new series, Chris Giles looks at the impact of the post-crisis stimulus on prices.

Cartoon of the day

Global economy will return to pre-pandemic level by 2022, says OECD