Oil prices slumped again on Wednesday, with Brent falling to the lowest since 1999, as the market struggled with a massive crude glut amid a collapse in demand for everything from gasoline to jet fuel caused by the coronavirus outbreak.
Roche’s diagnostic business has moved out of the shadows of its main medicines unit during the coronavirus epidemic, as the Swiss drugmaker confirmed its 2020 sales and profit outlook amid rising demand for its new COVID-19 tests. Basel-based Roche still expects full-year sales to grow in the low- to mid-single-digit percentage range, with core earnings per share growing broadly in line with sales at constant exchange rates, the company said on Wednesday. Group sales in the first-quarter rose 7% to 15.1 billion Swiss francs ($15.57 billion), with drugs business revenue up 7% and diagnostics rising 5% at constant …read more […]
(Bloomberg) — Ericsson AB said Europe risks falling further behind on fifth-generation networks as phone carriers postpone upgrades to the latest cellular technology due to coronavirus lockdowns.The pandemic is already making it harder for the communications equipment supplier to deliver its services, though this had only a limited effect on operating income and cashflow during the first quarter, the company said in a statement.Key InsightsEricsson and peers such as Nokia Oyj are seen as relatively insulated from the virus pandemic as demand for communication services is holding up with the shift to home working and schooling.However, the pandemic has led …read more […]
(Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks are likely to see new lows if VIX patterns from yesteryear hold sway, according to Bank of America Corp.The current bear-market rally most closely resembles what occurred in 2008, and suggests there’s limited further upside before a turn that drags the S&P 500 to fresh lows, strategists led by Benjamin Bowler wrote in a note Tuesday. They drew that conclusion by measuring from the peak of volatility in the three most recent major sell-offs and comparing those with the present one.Volatility markets are “underpricing the risk of a secondary market shock,” they wrote.If the S&P 500, …read more […]
Facebook will buy a 10% stake in the digital business of India’s Reliance Industries for $5.7 billion, as the social media firm looks to leverage its highly popular WhatsApp chat service to offer digital payment services.
The social media giant becomes a shareholder in cut-price Indian mobile internet company Reliance Jio. …read more […]
Virgin Australia Holdings Ltd’s administrators said they will hold a first meeting of creditors on April 30 and have retained Houlihan Lokey to advise them on restructuring the airline.
Asian share markets slipped to two-week lows on Wednesday as the floor fell out from under crude prices, exposing the deep economic damage wrought by the global coronavirus health crisis.
Revenue, which Snap earns mainly by selling advertising on the app, increased 44% from a year earlier to $462.47 million. Direct response advertising is now more than half of Snap’s total revenue. Small and medium-sized businesses have been hard-hit during the pandemic, but represent a smaller portion of Snap’s direct response ad business, which has helped protect revenue, said Jeremi Gorman, Snap’s chief business officer, on the earnings call. …read more […]
Official U.S. government data shows that storage at the key crude oil hub in Cushing, Oklahoma, was just 70% full as of mid-April. Traders say that is bunk – because whatever is left is spoken for by firms sending oil to the hub right now. Oil prices have crashed this year, with the current U.S. contract falling into negative territory, due to millions of barrels of supply around the globe hitting markets at a time when the coronavirus pandemic means people are not flying on planes or driving in cars. …read more […]
The Trump administration on Tuesday gave Chevron Corp , the last major U.S. oil company still operating in Venezuela, until Dec. 1 to “wind down” its business in the OPEC member-nation and will allow it to conduct only severely limited operations there until then.
Virgin Galactic Holdings Inc Chairman Chamath Palihapitiya on Tuesday raised $720 million for a new blank-check company, 20% more than its original target, after the coronavirus crisis upended plans last month.
U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer welcomed a bipartisan deal reached on small business loan support, along with money for hospitals and testing, and said the U.S. Congress would aim to pass it this week.
Oil prices found some respite on Wednesday as U.S. oil futures rose more than 20% and Brent prices steadied after a two-day price plunge, as markets struggle with a massive crude glut amid the coronavirus outbreak. West Texas Intermediate was up $2.05, or 18%, at $13.62 a barrel by 0034 GMT. Brent crude , which settled down 24% in the previous session, was up 4 cents at $19.37 a barrel after rising more than $1 earlier. …read more […]
Facebook Inc announced a $5.7 billion investment in Reliance Industries Ltd’s telecom unit on Wednesday, making it the largest minority shareholder in Jio Platforms Limited.
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