Business & Finance News
Finance officials from the Group of 20 major economies agreed on Wednesday to suspend debt service payments for the world’s poorest countries through the end of the year, a move quickly matched by a group of hundreds of private creditors.
Harley-Davidson Inc said on Wednesday it had temporarily laid off most of its global production employees and implemented salary cuts in a bid to lower costs as the coronavirus pandemic has hurt its business.
Numerous major U.S. airlines are preparing to apply this week for a $25 billion U.S. government loan program after winning billions in federal payroll grants, people familiar with the matter said.
U.S. companies have been battered by the fallout from the novel coronavirus outbreak as economic activity “contracted sharply and abruptly across all regions,” a report by the Federal Reserve released on Wednesday showed.
Ryanair is steeling for an airline price war that it expects to win once coronavirus restrictions are lifted and passengers flock back to tourist destinations, Chief Executive Michael O’Leary told Reuters on Wednesday.
Amazon’s moves to reduce strain on its grocery businesses by putting new online shoppers on wait lists and switching more Whole Foods resources to filling orders, is unmasking limitations at the company that was expected to upend the supermarket industry.
Apple Inc on Wednesday released a smaller iPhone priced at $399, cutting the starting price for the company’s smartphone line in a move to broaden its appeal to budget-conscious customers as the coronavirus hobbles the global economy.
The millions of bits of cellphone data tracked by analytics firm Unacast show the economic impact of the coronavirus spreading across the United States like a deep freeze – long-distance travel was hit early on, but eventually overall retail foot traffic slowed to a crawl, too.
Oil prices sank on Wednesday after the United States reported a 19 million-barrel increase in inventories, the biggest weekly build ever, while forecasts showed global demand crumbling to its lowest levels in a quarter of a century due to the coronavirus pandemic.
UnitedHealth Group Inc on Wednesday reaffirmed its financial targets for the year, but cautioned it was uncertain of the impact of elective procedures being postponed by Americans during the COVID-19 pandemic.
U.S. retail sales suffered a record drop in March and output at factories declined by the most since 1946, buttressing analysts’ views that the economy contracted in the first quarter at its sharpest pace in decades as extraordinary measures to control the spread of the novel coronavirus shut down the country.
The Pentagon’s inspector general on Wednesday said it could not determine whether the White House influenced the award of a $10 billion contract to Microsoft Corp over Amazon after several officials said their conversations were privileged “presidential communications.”
The S&P 500 recoiled on Wednesday from a four-week high, as dire forecasts for the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression were strengthened by a crash in business activity and dismal first-quarter earnings reports.
Global accounting and consulting firms Deloitte and EY said on Wednesday they were cutting pay for partners at their UK businesses by a fifth to protect jobs during the coronavirus crisis, mirroring moves at rivals PwC and BDO.
The Pentagon’s inspector general on Wednesday said it could not determine whether the White House influenced the award of a $10 billion contract to Microsoft Corp over Amazon after several officials said their conversations were privileged “presidential communications.”
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