Danone Chief Executive Franck Riboud, right, holds out a chair for Kraft Food chairman and CEO Irene Rosenfeld before a press conference in Paris.

Kraft Foods Inc. said Tuesday it has offered $7.2 billion in cash to acquire the cookie and cereal division of French food company Groupe Danone SA in a deal that would give America’s biggest food and beverage company an even larger foothold around the globe. Danone said in a statement that its board is considering the bid received Monday on an exclusive basis. A deal would give Kraft, the maker of Oreo cookies, popular overseas brands such as LU, Petit Dejeuner, Tuc, Mikado and others. AP

Commerce

Factory orders dip

WASHINGTON — America’s factories saw demand for their products dip by a smaller-than-expected 0.5 percent in May, suggesting that despite some pockets of weakness the manufacturing revival remains intact.

The drop reported by the Commerce Department Tuesday came after new orders for a range of manufactured goods rose by 0.5 percent in April. The decline in May mostly reflected weaker demand for airplanes. Fewer orders for construction equipment, industrial machinery and household appliances also figured prominently into the overall decline — byproducts of the housing slump.

The 0.5 percent dip was actually a much better showing than the deeper, 1.2 percent decline that economists said they were expecting.

“What we’ve been seeing is two steps forward, one step back. So net-net we’re moving ahead,” said economist Ken Mayland, president of ClearView Economics.

Other more forward-looking reports suggest the manufacturing sector and the economy are rebounding./AP

Petroleum

Oil firm: production fell, prices up

HOUSTON — ConocoPhillips, the third-largest U.S. oil company, said Tuesday its global production likely fell in the second quarter from the first three months of 2007, but it benefited from higher crude oil and natural gas prices for the period.

ConocoPhillips said production is expected to be lower because of scheduled maintenance in the North Sea, its exit from Dubai and other factors. It did not provide figures or comparisons to the year-ago quarter.

The company reports second-quarter results July 25.

The market price for oil — based on the benchmark West Texas Intermediate — was up $6.90 a barrel in the second quarter from the first, but off about $5.50 a barrel from the same period a year ago, ConocoPhillips said in its report, citing figures from Plates, a division of McGraw-Hill Cos.

The market price for natural gas in the second quarter was up nearly 80 cents per million British thermal units from both the first quarter of 2007 and the year-ago period.

The oil company noted its actual crude oil and natural gas prices may vary greatly from the price indicators because of quality and other factors./AP

Economy

Wall Street rises moderately

NEW YORK  — Wall Street advanced Tuesday ahead of the Fourth of July holiday as investors drew confidence from a smaller-than-expected dip in factory orders and new merger-and-acquisition activity.

The market was relieved to hear from the Commerce Department that U.S. factories saw demand dip in May by just 0.5 percent; most analysts had predicted a decline of more than 1 percent.

Takeover news gave the market an extra boost. Kraft Foods Inc. said it offered $7.2 billion to buy the biscuit division of French food company Groupe Danone SA; Canadian miner Teck Cominco Ltd. bid 4.1 billion Canadian dollars, or $3.87 billion, for Canadian copper miner Aur Resources Inc.; and a major Wendy’s International Inc. shareholder said he is considering buying the hamburger chain.

The M&A activity helped the stock market extend Monday’s steep gains, but most analysts aren’t taking this week’s movements too seriously, given that trading volumes are low. The stock market closed early at 1 p.m. EDT.

“Historically, the two days leading up to the July 4th holiday have been positive for the equity markets,” said Michael Sheldon, chief market strategist at Spencer Clarke LLC. Investors shouldn’t breathe a sigh of relief just yet; the few days after July 4th are often negative, he said, and the market’s recent choppiness is expected to continue after that./AP

Fast food

Arby’s owner eyes buying Wendy’s

COLUMBUS, Ohio — A major shareholder who has pressured Wendy’s International Inc. to increase stock value said Tuesday that he is considering a purchase of the nation’s third-largest hamburger chain.

Billionaire investor Nelson Peltz said his company, which owns fast-food chain Arby’s, would be a “natural, strategic buyer” for Wendy’s, according to a letter he sent to Wendy’s chairman, but that the company is blocking him.

Peltz, who runs the Trian Fund, also revealed in the filing that he and his allies have increased their stake to 9.8 percent of company shares, from 8.4 percent.

Peltz’ company Triarc Cos. controls Arby’s, which has more than 3,000 restaurants.

Peltz said in the letter to Wendy’s chairman James Pickett that he believes Wendy’s would prefer to sell itself to anyone but Triarc.

“While Trian will support the transaction that is best for all Wendy’s shareholders, we believe that Triarc is a natural, strategic buyer for the company and should be encouraged to participate in the process,” he said in the letter, part of filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission to show how many Wendy’s shares Peltz owns./AP

Data theft

Fidelity National loses records

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Fidelity National Information Services, a financial processing company, said Tuesday a worker at one of its subsidiaries stole 2.3 million consumer records containing credit card, bank account and other personal information.

The employee sold the information to an unidentified data broker. The broker then sold it to several direct marketing companies, but the data was not used in identity theft or other fraudulent financial activity, officials from Fidelity National subsidiary Certegy Check Services Inc. said in a conference call.

About 2.2 million records stolen from Certegy contained bank account information and 99,000 contained credit card information, company officials said.

“As a result of this apparent theft, the consumers affected received marketing solicitations from the companies that bought the data,” said Renz Nichols, president of St. Petersburg-based Certegy.

“We believe that is the extent of any damage to the public,” he said.

The company has found no fraudulent use of the information./AP

Banking on it

European Central Bank may keep rate

FRANKFURT, Germany  — The European Central Bank is expected to leave its key rate steady this week as unemployment is dropping and inflation appears to be under control in the 13-nation region that shares the euro.

In Britain, however, the Bank of England is expected to raise its benchmark rate — already at a six year high — on Thursday as previous increases have failed stem inflation.

The European Central Bank has raised rates about once every quarter since December 2005 in bringing its benchmark rate to 4 percent. In doing so it has managed to keep inflation at bay and growth from stalling.

Unemployment in the euro zone is at a record low of 7 percent; inflation remains around the bank’s target of “close to but below” 2 percent across the 13-nation region of more than 317 million residents who account for more than 15 percent of the world’s economic production./AP