PACKAGED GOODS

* Maxtor Corp. agreed to buy Quantum Corp.’s Hard Disk Drive Group for about $1.2 billion in stock, creating the world’s biggest maker of computer hard drives. The combined company will have about 35% of the hard-drive market, according to Prudential Securities analyst Kimberly Alexy. It will ship more than 50 million hard drives a year and have about $6 billion in annual sales. Both companies are based in Milpitas, Calif.

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* The United States rejected a plan by the European Union to end a long-running dispute with the U.S. and Latin American countries over banana trade. The EU’s executive body adopted detailed new proposals for reforming its banana import system. The EU said the “first come, first served” system was compatible with world trade rules. But a spokesman for U.S. Trade Representative Charlene Barshefsky said it was unacceptable.