NEW YORK — Oil prices plunged by more than $2 a barrel Tuesday on hopes that the inauguration of a new president in OPEC member Nigeria would contribute to a stable supply from the Niger Delta region.

A formal meeting over the weekend between U.S. and Iranian officials also soothed traders' concerns about a potential conflict between the two countries.

Light, sweet crude for July delivery dropped $2.05 to settle at $63.15 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Before the long weekend, U.S. crude oil climbed more than $1 to $65.20 Friday. Monday there was no floor trade and no closing price in the U.S. because of the Memorial Day holiday.

Brent futures for July lost $1.58 to close at $68.15 a barrel on London's ICE Futures exchange.

Umaru Yar'Adua, 56, was sworn in Tuesday as the new Nigerian president, replacing Olusegun Obasanjo who stepped down after eight years. It marked the first successful transfer of power from one elected government to another in Africa's most populous country with a history of long years of military rule.

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ZOELLICK CHOSEN TO LEAD WORLD BANK

WASHINGTON — President Bush has chosen Robert Zoellick, a one-time U.S. trade representative and former No. 2 official at the State Department, to lead the World Bank, a senior administration official said Tuesday.

Bush will announce his decision on Wednesday.

Zoellick would succeed Paul Wolfowitz, who is stepping down June 30 after findings by a special bank panel that he broke bank rules when he arranged a hefty compensation package in 2005 for his girlfriend, Shaha Riza, a bank employee. The controversy led to calls from Europeans, the bank's staff, aid groups, Democratic politicians and others for Wolfowitz to step down.

Zoellick's selection has received positive reaction from other nations, and the White House expects him to be accepted by the World Bank executive board, the senior administration official said. The official spoke only on condition of anonymity because Bush had not announced the selection.

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RECORD TAKEOVER BID OFFERED FOR DUTCH BANK

AMSTERDAM, Netherlands — ABN Amro received an industry record takeover bid of 71.1 billion euros ($95.5 billion) Tuesday from a group led by Royal Bank of Scotland PLC, but its shares fell as the Dutch bank's earlier decision to sell its U.S. arm to Bank of America still clouded prospects for a quick deal.

The offer by the RBS-led consortium of 38.40 euros ($51.59) per share, about 10 percent higher than the bid on the table from Britain-based Barclays PLC, is contingent on the LaSalle sale not going forward, and also sets aside around 1.85 billion euros ($2.49 billion) to pay potential claims or a settlement to BofA.

What will happen next depends on who acts first: the courts or ABN Amro's shareholders.

The Netherlands' Supreme Court is to rule on an appeal against an order to freeze the LaSalle sale by early July. But with an offer from RBS on the table, ABN shareholders with at least a 10 percent stake could override management and call for a meeting in six weeks to voice their preference on the LaSalle sale or either offer.

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ARCHSTONE-SMITH AGREES TO $15.5B BUYOUT

NEW YORK — Archstone-Smith, a major owner of apartment buildings, said Tuesday it had agreed to a Tishman Speyer-led buyout valuing the company at about $15.5 billion, but investors indicated they were expecting a higher bid.

Tishman Speyer, owner of New York's Rockefeller Center and the Chrysler building, was joined by Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. in the friendly takeover bid, which would turn one of the largest publicly traded real estate trusts over to private investors.

The buyout provides further evidence of a booming market for commercial real estate and intense investor interest in owning real estate investment trusts, which pay lower taxes by distributing almost all taxable income to shareholders.

The deal follows the Blackstone private equity group's takeover of Sam Zell's Equity Office Properties Trust in a $23 billion all-cash deal in early February. Blackstone beat out Vornado Realty Trust by raising its bid 15 percent from an initial offer made in November.

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CONSUMER CONFIDENCE INDEX UP IN MAY

NEW YORK — Consumer confidence bounced back unexpectedly in May, helped by optimism about the job market even as shoppers' concerns about gasoline price-driven inflation increased.

The New York-based Conference Board said Tuesday its Consumer Confidence Index rose to 108.0 in May, up from a revised 106.3 in April. Analysts had expected the reading to fall to 104.5. The May reading was the highest since March when the index was at 108.2.

The Present Situation Index, which measures how shoppers feel now about economic conditions, rose to 136.1 from 133.5 in April. The Expectations Index, which measures consumers' outlook for the next six months, edged up to 89.2 from 88.2.

Economists closely monitor consumer confidence since consumer spending accounts for two-thirds of all U.S. economic activity.

The upbeat data helped push stocks higher.

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BRAZILIAN FIRM TO BUY U.S. MEAT PROCESSOR

DENVER — In a union of two large meat-processing companies, a Brazilian firm announced Tuesday it will acquire Swift & Co. in a $225 million cash deal that will give the combined company greater access to expanding markets and operations on three continents.

J&F Participacoes S.A., which controls Brazil's leading beef exporter Friboi, won out over other bidders for Swift, which was highly sought after because not many meat-packaging plants are put up for sale in wake of U.S. industry consolidation, analysts said.

Swift, headquartered in Greeley about 50 miles north of Denver, is the third-largest U.S. processor of beef and pork and has plants in six states and an operation in Australia.

J&F will buy Swift from its owners, HM Capital Partners of Dallas and Vail-based Booth Creek Management Corp. It will assume $1.2 billion in debt and pay transaction-related expenses.

The companies said the combined company will become the largest beef processing operation in the world.

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GOODYEAR WINS IN PAY BIAS CASE

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court limited workers' ability to sue for pay discrimination Tuesday, ruling against a Goodyear employee who earned thousands of dollars less than her male counterparts but waited too long to complain.

The 5-4 decision underscored a provision in a federal civil rights law that sets a 180-day deadline for employees to claim they are being paid less because of their race, sex, religion or national origin.

Without a deadline, Justice Samuel Alito wrote for the court, employers would find it difficult to defend against claims "arising from employment decisions that are long past."

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, writing in dissent for the court's liberal members, urged Congress to amend the law to correct the court's "parsimonious reading" of it.