The daily business briefing: February 8, 2016

1. VW plans to offer compensation over diesel scandal

The German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung reported Sunday that Volkswagen plans to offer compensation to up to 600,000 U.S. customers who own diesel vehicles involved in the German automaker's emission-test cheating scandal. The paper quoted Kenneth Feinberg, head of the VW claims fund, as saying that the company still had not decided who would be offered cash, vehicle buy-backs, fixes, or new cars. VW on Friday postponed the release of its 2015 earnings as it tried to determine the full cost of the scandal.

Reuters

2. Chipotle restaurants closing part of Monday for food-safety meeting

Chipotle is closing all of its restaurants nationwide for four hours on Monday to hold a meeting for its staff members on food safety. The restaurant chain is changing its food preparation protocols and will now, for instance, wash tomatoes and lettuce in central kitchens instead of in restaurants. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced a week ago that an E. coli outbreak linked to Chipotle was over after leaving about 500 people sick last year. Chipotle's profits plunged in the last three months of 2015.

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CNN

3. Stocks under pressure after last week's declines

European stocks plunged to 16-month lows on Monday, extending last week's sell-off. U.S. stock futures also fell sharply early in the day. The Dow Jones Industrial Average, the S&P 500, and the Nasdaq 100 all were down by more than 1 percent following the biggest weekly decline in a painful month for U.S. stocks. A mixed jobs report contributed to investors' worries on Friday. Investors will be watching Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen's testimony to Congress on Wednesday and Thursday for indications of how the Fed sees the economy after its first interest rate hike in years.

Reuters MarketWatch

4. Gas prices fall to lowest levels in two years due to oil glut

The average U.S. gasoline price dropped 8.2 cents per gallon over the last two weeks to the lowest level in two years, according to a Lundberg survey released Sunday. Gasoline averaged $1.82 per gallon in the Feb. 5 survey. The last time gas cost less was in the Jan. 9, 2009, survey, when it fell to $1.78 per gallon. The price is now down 37 cents per gallon compared to one year ago.

The Associated Press

5. Hyundai tops USA Today Super Bowl ad meter

USA Today's 2016 Super Bowl ad meter picked Hyundai's "First Date" commercial as the winner in Sunday's big game. The South Korean carmaker's commercial depicted a dad, played by comedian Kevin Hart, handing the keys of his new Hyundai Genesis to his daughter's date. The dad then uses the car's location tracker to keep tabs on the young couple, showing up wherever they go. Second place went to Heinz for an ad with dachshunds in hot-dog bun outfits.

USA Today