PRAGUE (Reuters) – Czech car production fell 31.1% year-on-year in the January-April period to 337,497 cars, the Automotive Industry Association said on Tuesday. In April alone, when the country ground to a standstill due to measures aimed to curb the coronavi... More »
YUYAO, China/SHANGHAI (Reuters) – In the eastern Chinese city of Yuyao, a group of five face-masked workers at a Geely auto plant, stood almost shoulder to shoulder behind an SUV as they conducted paint and other quality checks. That scene would not have been ... More »
TOKYO (Reuters) – Oil prices rose for a fourth straight session on Tuesday amid signs that producers are cutting output as promised just as demand picks up, stoked by more countries easing out of curbs imposed to counter the coronavirus pandemic. Brent crude c... More »
(Reuters) – The United States will announce on Tuesday that it has signed a $354 million contract with a company to make generic medicines and pharmaceutical ingredients in the country needed to treat COVID-19, the New York Times reported late on Monday. The m... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. government’s handling of its massive economic response to the coronavirus pandemic will come under scrutiny on Tuesday as Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell testify before the Senate Bankin... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – Travel group TUI (TUIGn.DE) will cut 8,000 jobs and look to shed 30% of its costs as it gears up for a July restart to European tourism, the German company said on Wednesday. Holiday plans have been put on hold in the face of travel restrict... More »
WELLINGTON (Reuters) – New Zealand’s Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said on Wednesday that the annual budget will invest to create more jobs and get the economy going, but warned the country was about to enter a “very tough winter”. The government is seen unlea... More »
FRANKFURT/DUESSELDORF, Germany (Reuters) – German conglomerate Thyssenkrupp (TKAG.DE) on Tuesday warned its operating loss could swell to 1 billion euros ($1.1 billion) in the current quarter citing the coronavirus pandemic. The group, whose operations range f... More »
(Reuters) – European shares edged higher on Tuesday following a clutch of upbeat quarterly earnings reports, but investors remained cautious of a resurgence in new coronavirus cases as hard-hit economies lift lockdowns. The pan-European STOXX 600 index rose 0.... More »
BEIJING/WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump said on Monday he opposed renegotiating the U.S.-China “Phase 1” trade deal after a Chinese state-run newspaper reported some government advisers in Beijing were urging fresh talks and possibly invalid... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – Britain’s government should extend a costly job support programme until the end of the year for retail and hospitality workers hit hardest by the coronavirus, a think tank said on Tuesday, ahead of an expected government announcement. The Re... More »
TOKYO (Reuters) – Toyota Motor Corp (7203.T) on Tuesday said it expects profit to drop 80% to its lowest in nine years, as Japan’s biggest automaker grapples with the impact of the novel coronavirus which has sapped global demand for vehicles. Global automaker... More »
TOKYO (Reuters) – Japanese Finance Minister Taro Aso said on Tuesday he was not considering tax cuts, including a reduction in the sales tax, for the time being as a way of easing the economic pain from the coronavirus pandemic. “Japan’s fiscal condition is in... More »
TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan’s government will offer a wide range of funding support for the country’s automobile industry, which is facing slumping output due to the coronavirus pandemic, top government spokesman Yoshihide Suga said on Tuesday. He also told a regu... More »
BEIJING (Reuters) – China announced on Tuesday a new list of 79 U.S. products eligible for waivers from retaliatory tariffs imposed at the height of the bilateral trade war, amid continued pressure on Beijing to boost imports from the United States. China’s fi... More »
NEW YORK/SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Negative interest rates in the United States were once unimaginable. The coronavirus has changed that. While the Federal Reserve has all but ruled it out, the sweeping economic and financial-markets impact of the pandemic has for... More »
MELBOURNE/SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Oil futures rose on Tuesday, boosted by an unexpected commitment from Saudi Arabia to deepen production cuts in June in a bid to help drain the glut in the global market that has built up as the coronavirus pandemic crushed fuel... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – Britain will on Tuesday announce changes to programme that is paying the wages of more than 6 million workers at businesses affected by the coronavirus, its health minister said. Britain’s finance minister, Rishi Sunak, will make a statement... More »
SYDNEY/HONG KONG (Reuters) – Asian shares tumbled on Tuesday on growing worries about a second wave of coronavirus infections after the Chinese city where the pandemic originated reported its first new cases since its lockdown was lifted. European markets were... More »
(Reuters) – Hyatt Hotels Corp (H.N) said late Monday it would lay off 1,300 people globally as it tries to cope with the coronavirus crisis, which has virtually halted global travel by keeping people indoors. Hyatt said it had also cut pay for senior managemen... More »
HONG KONG (Reuters) – Tim Hortons China said Tuesday it received an investment from Chinese tech giant Tencent, as the Canadian coffee brewer seeks to expand in the Chinese market. Tim Hortons said in a statement on its Weibo it will use the funds to upgrade d... More »
BOSTON (Reuters) – Sandwich maker Potbelly Corp on Monday promised to reimburse activist shareholders’ expenses with stock not cash, creating a situation that lawyers call an outlier for now but which they said could find traction in tough economic times. The ... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A federal judge in Montana on Monday upheld his ruling last month that canceled an environmental permit for the long-delayed Keystone XL oil pipeline and threatened other oil and natural gas pipeline projects with delays. Chief U.S. Dist... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The White House has begun informal talks with Republicans and Democrats in Congress about what to include in another round of coronavirus relief legislation, officials said on Sunday, while predicting further U.S. jobs losses in the comi... More »
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Antwerp is regaining its glitz as Belgium eases a two-month nationwide coronavirus lockdown that virtually halted business in the world’s largest diamond trade centre. The return of some of the brokers, cutters and couriers who normally th... More »
(Reuters) – J. Crew Group Inc filed for bankruptcy protection on Monday with a plan to hand over control to lenders, adding to a list of brick-and-mortar retailers pushed to the brink by widespread store closures in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The New Y... More »
MILAN (Reuters) – Luxury sports car maker Ferrari (RACE.MI) still expects to make more than $1 billion in core profit this year, providing a relative beacon of stability in an auto industry ravaged by the coronavirus crisis. The company, known for its red Form... More »
BERLIN/MUNICH (Reuters) – The business climate in Germany’s auto sector suffered its biggest slump in April and hit its lowest level since 1991, when the Ifo economic institute began collecting data post-reunification, a survey showed on Monday. The news came ... More »
PARIS (Reuters) – The French government has rejected a request by Amazon (AMZN.O) to tap a state partial unemployment scheme for employees at its six warehouses in the country, a spokeswoman for the labor ministry said on Monday. The e-commerce giant has shut ... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – New orders for U.S.-made goods suffered a record decline in March and could sink further as disruptions from the novel coronavirus fracture supply chains and depress exports. The report from the Commerce Department on Monday was the late... More »
PRAGUE (Reuters) – Czech carmaker Skoda Auto, part of the Volkswagen Group (VOWG_p.DE), reported a 25% drop in first-quarter operating profit on Monday, but said the biggest hit from the coronavirus outbreak would come in the second quarter. Skoda, the Czech R... More »
(Reuters) – The S&P 500 and Dow Jones dropped for the third session on Monday following a U.S.-China spat about the origins of the coronavirus outbreak, while major carriers slumped after billionaire Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway dumped its stakes in the... More »
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Oil prices were mixed on Monday as countries started to ease coronavirus lockdowns, though a fresh spat between the United States and China over the origin of the virus weighed on prices. Worldwide fuel demand fell by an estimated 30% in A... More »
(Reuters) – Insurers are normally great with numbers. But the coronavirus pandemic has them struggling to estimate how many billions of dollars in losses they face, and what the fallout will be for their massive investment portfolios. Executives, lawyers and a... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – Like the myriad approaches governments are taking to tackle the coronavirus crisis, the way the world’s top banks are calculating their potential losses also differs widely, with puzzling outcomes for investors. These discrepancies are roote... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – Oil and gas output from some of the world’s top oil companies is set to drop by over 12% in the second quarter of 2020 to levels not seen in at least 17 years, according to Reuters calculations. The output cuts are driven by an unprecedented... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – Two of the world’s biggest gold refiners, Valcambi and Argor-Heraeus, said on Monday they were restoring close to full operations after Swiss authorities relaxed coronavirus lockdown measures. The decisions end six weeks of partial or full c... More »
ZURICH (Reuters) – Germany could only allow coronavirus antibody tests to help determine how freely people can move once it has advice from its ethics council, Health Minister Jens Spahn said, after securing millions of the tests from Swiss drugmaker Roche. Ge... More »
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – World leaders launched a pledging “marathon” on Monday – without the United States – to raise at least $8 billion for research into a possible vaccine and treatments for the coronavirus. Organisers included the European Union, non-EU state... More »
(Reuters) – General Electric Co (GE.N) said on Monday it was planning to cut the global workforce of its aviation unit this year by as much as 25%, or up to 13,000 jobs, including both voluntary and involuntary layoffs, citing prolonged aircraft reduction sche... More »
(Reuters) – Shares of the top four U.S. airlines dropped on Monday after billionaire investor Warren Buffett said Berkshire Hathaway (BRKa.N) offloaded its entire stake in the carriers last month, adding to the sense of crisis around the industry. U.S. airline... More »
(Reuters) – Tyson Foods Inc expects to continue idling meat plants and slowing production because of the new coronavirus, the company said on Monday, signaling more disruptions to the U.S. food supply. Tyson reported lower-than-expected earnings and revenue fo... More »
OSLO (Reuters) – Norwegian Air (NWC.OL) shareholders backed its financial survival plan on Monday, with more than 95% of votes cast supporting the conversion of nearly $1 billion of debt into equity and raising more cash from its owners. The approval follows w... More »
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Walt Disney Co’s (DIS.N) acquisitions spree that included swallowing much of Rupert Murdoch’s 21st Century Fox last year, and a reputation for operational excellence, turned the company into the world’s most powerful entertainment machi... More »
MOUSCRON, Belgium (Reuters) – With potato farmers and processors struggling, Belgians are being urged to eat more fries to offset a slump in demand during the coronavirus pandemic. Belgium is the world’s largest exporter of fries and other frozen potato produc... More »
DUBAI (Reuters) – Japan’s Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc (MUFG) (8306.T) expects countries in the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) to be in deep recession this year with overall real GDP contracting 3.7% from a previous growth forecast of 2.9%. Th... More »
OSLO (Reuters) – Norwegian Air (NWC.OL) could run out of cash by mid-May unless its proposed financial rescue plan is approved by creditors and shareholders, the budget carrier warned on Monday. If approved by bondholders, leasing companies and shareholders, t... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – Britain’s airlines want the government’s coronavirus wage support scheme to be extended beyond June, maintaining the assistance for longer with a only slow recovery in air travel expected. Airlines UK, the industry’s representative body, wro... More »
SHANGHAI (Reuters) – Luckin Coffee (LK.O) said on Monday China’s State Administration for Market Regulation was carrying out work to understand the coffee chain’s operating situation and added that it was actively cooperating. It also said in a statement poste... More »
BERLIN (Reuters) – The German government and the federal state of Hesse have agreed to provide Condor with loans worth 550 million euros ($596.31 million), the economy minister said on Monday, after the owner of Poland’s LOT pulled out of a deal to buy the air... More »
TOKYO (Reuters) – The Bank of Japan expanded monetary stimulus on Monday and pledged to buy unlimited amount of bonds to keep borrowing costs low as the government tries to spend its way out of the deepening economic pain from the coronavirus pandemic. The mov... More »
(Reuters) – Troubled hospital operator NMC Health (NMC.L) on Monday said it requested London Stock Exchange to delist its shares after they remained suspended for two months. The UAE-based company was placed into administration earlier this month, on the appli... More »
(Reuters) – Holiday Inn-owner InterContinental Hotels (IHG.L) said on Monday it had raised 600 million pounds ($747 million) from Bank of England loans under the government’s coronavirus aid scheme as it estimated a 25% plunge in global revenue per available r... More »
BERLIN (Reuters) – Adidas (ADSGn.DE) reported a 93% plunge in first-quarter profit and sales off 19%, missing forecasts, and warned of a deeper hit to second-quarter revenue as lockdowns forced the German sportswear maker and other retailers to close stores. F... More »
SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Oil prices fell on Monday on signs that worldwide oil storage is filling rapidly, raising concerns that production cuts will not come fast enough to fully offset the collapse in demand from the coronavirus pandemic. U.S. oil futures led l... More »
FRANKFURT (Reuters) – German drugs and pesticides company Bayer said the economic downturn has prompted it to take a tougher stance in talks to settle claims its glyphosate-based weedkillers cause cancer, even as its earnings rose. The pandemic has significant... More »
(This April 26 story has been refiled to correct spelling of commerce ministry official’s first name in paragraph four) BEIJING (Reuters) – China is dropping a requirement that a number of key virus care products get domestic regulatory approval before export,... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – The European Central Bank meets on Thursday, the ink barely dry on its emergency bond-buying scheme, and markets are already asking what more it will do to help the euro zone economy through the coronavirus crisis. Its emergency stimulus, wh... More »
TAIPEI (Reuters) – The U.S. Treasury’s latest semi-annual report on trade practices of its major trading partners which was due this month has been delayed due to the coronavirus pandemic, two sources with direct knowledge at Taiwan’s central bank told Reuters... More »
BENGALURU (Reuters) – The euro zone economy is already in its deepest recession on record, according to a Reuters poll of economists, who have stuck to a bleak outlook and worry the downturn might be even worse as coronavirus lockdowns across the bloc take the... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – The number of people in jobs in Britain grew more slowly in March than in February, official figures showed on Tuesday in an early sign of the impact of the coronavirus shutdown which is expected to hammer the jobs market. Growth in the numb... More »
FRANKFURT (Reuters) – Daimler and Volvo Trucks have agreed to join forces to develop, produce and sell fuel cell systems for heavy-duty vehicles, in a sign that the coronavirus crisis is accelerating consolidation. Global car and truck makers are exploring way... More »
(Reuters) – European stocks fell on Tuesday as the double whammy from a crash in U.S. crude to minus $40 per barrel and dismal first-quarter earnings reports spooked investors about the lasting damage to the global economy from the coronavirus pandemic. BP Plc... More »
BEIJING (Reuters) – China is handing out billions of yuan in shopping coupons to support retailers crushed by the COVID-19 outbreak, but the subsidies are doing little to support the kind of discretionary spending needed to revive the economy. Instead, a big c... More »
SYDNEY (Reuters) – Virgin Australia Holdings Ltd (VAH.AX) on Tuesday succumbed to third-party led restructuring that could lead to a sale, making Australia’s second-biggest airline the Asia-Pacific region’s biggest victim of the coronavirus crisis gripping the... More »
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – European Union leaders meeting are on Thursday expected to defer a final decision on how to finance the bloc’s economic recovery in the aftermath of the coronavirus pandemic, diplomats and officials said. The 27 national leaders have alrea... More »
SYDNEY (Reuters) – Australia will suffer its biggest economic contraction since the 1930s in the first half of this year due to containment measures to curb the spread of the coronavirus, its central bank governor said on Tuesday. Describing the contraction as... More »
SEOUL (Reuters) – U.S. oil prices hobbled back into positive territory on Tuesday after sinking below $0 for the first time ever, but international benchmark Brent dipped as the global coronavirus crisis severely reduces demand for crude. U.S. West Texas Inter... More »
(Reuters) – A historic rout in oil markets sent U.S. crude prices plummeting to as much as minus $40 a barrel as traders rushed to get rid of unwanted stocks with storage capacity already overflowing amid a coronavirus-induced demand collapse. U.S. West Texas ... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – The oil price will stay low for some time as supply exceeds demand and the current situation on global oil markets is reminiscent of the 1980s oil glut, former BP boss John Browne said on Tuesday. “The prices will be very low and I think the... More »
SEOUL (Reuters) – South Korean exports plunged nearly 27% in the first 20 days of April as the coronavirus health crisis paralyzed global manufacturing activity and crushed consumer demand. The worst may be yet to come with many of the country’s top trading pa... More »
FRANKFURT (Reuters) – The euro zone’s fiscal response to the coronavirus crisis has been inadequate so far and threatens the single market, European Central Bank board member Fabio Panetta said in an editorial published by Politico. Budget action should be pro... More »
STOCKHOLM (Reuters) – Swedish truck maker Volvo (VOLVb.ST) said on Tuesday it had signed a deal with German rival Daimler (DAIGn.DE) to set up a joint venture to develop and produce fuel cell systems for heavy-duty vehicles. Daimler will consolidate all its cu... More »
MILAN (Reuters) – Workers at Ferrari (RACE.MI) are signing up en masse for voluntary coronavirus screening so they can return to work as soon as possible in an ambitious scheme that could serve as a blueprint for manufacturers desperate to resume production. U... More »
(Reuters) – The price of a barrel of benchmark U.S. oil plunged below $0 a barrel on Monday for the first time in history, a troubling sign of an unprecedented global energy glut as the coronavirus pandemic halts travel and curbs economic activity. The contrac... More »
MANILA (Reuters) – The Asian Development Bank [ADB.UL] announced on Monday it was tripling the size of its rescue package to $20 billion to help developing countries in Asia counter the severe macroeconomic and health effects of the coronavirus pandemic. It pr... More »
BANGKOK (Reuters) – Thailand’s job losses may reach 10 million if the coronavirus outbreak continues for a few months, a business advisory council said on Monday. Southeast Asia’s second-largest economy is being hit hard by the virus outbreak and is heading in... More »
TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan may see new hirings slow and job losses increase, particularly among service-sector firms struggling to cope with the intensifying pain of the coronavirus crisis, according to an analysis of survey data by a private think-tank. Dai-ichi... More »
TOKYO/SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Global equities weakened on Monday as investors braced for more indications of economic damage from the coronavirus pandemic while oil prices rose in choppy trade following a landmark deal by OPEC and its allies to cut output. U.S. ... More »
SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Oil prices rose on Monday after major producers finally agreed their biggest-ever output cut, but gains were capped amid concern that it won’t be enough to head off oversupply with the coronavirus pandemic hammering demand. After four day... More »
CHICAGO (Reuters) – Major meat companies in the United States and Canada have closed plants temporarily due to cases of the new coronavirus and concerns about its spread. Here are some facilities that have shut or reduced production: * JBS USA [JBS.UL] shut a ... More »
CHICAGO (Reuters) – Smithfield Foods, the world’s biggest pork processor, said on Sunday it will shut a U.S. plant indefinitely due to a rash of coronavirus cases among employees and warned the country was moving “perilously close to the edge” in supplies for ... More »
MUMBAI (Reuters) – The impact of the novel coronavirus outbreak on the Indian economy would depend on the depth, duration and diffusion of the crisis, the Reserve Bank of India said in the minutes of its emergency monetary policy committee (MPC) meeting in Mar... More »
SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Minimal oil price gains on Monday show record output cuts by giant producers will still leave them with a mountain to climb to restore market balance, industry watchers said, with the coronavirus pandemic decimating demand just as stocks ... More »
BAKU/DUBAI/LONDON (Reuters) – OPEC and allies led by Russia agreed on Sunday to a record cut in output to prop up oil prices amid the coronavirus pandemic in an unprecedented deal with fellow oil nations, including the United States, that could curb global oil... More »
(Reuters) – Goldman Sachs said on Sunday that oil prices would continue to fall in the coming weeks, reasoning that a “historic yet insufficient” deal by major oil producers to cut output is unlikely to offset a coronavirus-led demand rout. The Organization of... More »
TOKYO (Reuters) – The agreement by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its allies to cut output failed to reach the reduction levels expected by the market, leading to oil prices remaining stagnant, the head of the Japanese petrole... More »
SEOUL (Reuters) – Kia Motors Corp (000270.KS) told its labour union in South Korea that it wants to suspend operations at three of its domestic factories as the coronavirus outbreak weighs on exports to Europe and the United States, a union official said on Mo... More »
(Reuters) – An agreement by oil-producing nations on Sunday to cut output by a record amount may sustain a recent bounce in stocks, although stay-at-home restrictions and closures tied to the coronavirus pandemic still weigh on the global economy. OPEC and all... More »
CAIRO (Reuters) – Iraq’s oil minister said late on Sunday that the big oil cut deal reached at an OPEC+ meeting would help stabilize the market. Thamer al-Ghadhban said in a statement that the “massive oil cut deal will help lower oil inventories and boost pri... More »
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – European Union countries on Thursday evening agreed the emergency credit lines from the euro zone’s bailout fund “will be available until COVID-19 crisis is over”, a draft of their deal read. Afterwards, euro countries should remain commit... More »
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – The European Central Bank told euro zone finance ministers that the bloc may need fiscal measures worth up to 1.5 trillion euros ($1.6 trillion) this year to tackle the economic crisis caused by the COVID-19 epidemic, officials told Reuter... More »
FRANKFURT/RIGA (Reuters) – It would be irresponsible of euro zone countries to leave the European Central Bank alone in the fight against an economic slump caused by the coronavirus outbreak, ECB policymaker Martins Kazaks said on Wednesday. Finance ministers ... More »
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Euro zone finance ministers hope to agree on Tuesday on half a trillion euros worth of economic aid to finance recovery from the coronavirus, a discussion that has sown divisions as the bloc struggles with the outbreak. If they do agree, t... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – Oil prices fell on Monday, after Saudi Arabia and Russia delayed a meeting to discuss output cuts that could help reduce global oversupply as the coronavirus pandemic pummels demand. Brent crude LCoc1 fell more than $3 when Asian markets ope... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – Dollar borrowing costs in the foreign exchange swap markets retreated further on Monday, with swap rates against the euro and pound falling to their lowest levels in more than a decade. These moves indicate recent emergency actions by global... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – Britain’s construction sector saw the sharpest fall in activity since the financial crisis last month, a survey showed on Monday, despite facing much less pressure than other industries to shut down operations due to the coronavirus. The fig... More »
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – The European Commission said on Monday it had approved a 50 billion pound ($61.5 billion) British “umbrella” scheme to support companies affected by coronavirus outbreak. The approval is in line with modified EU rules allowing a temporary ... More »
BERLIN (Reuters) – Investor morale in the euro zone fell to an all-time low in April and the bloc’s economy is in deep recession due to the coronavirus, which is “holding the world economy in a stranglehold”, a survey showed on Monday. Sentix’s index for the e... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – The Global Federation of Insurance Associations on Monday warned the world’s governments of the danger of forcing insurers to pay out for losses suffered due to the coronavirus even when pandemic losses were not included in existing policies... More »
