Business & Finance News
The dollar gained broadly against riskier currencies on Wednesday, with markets staring at what is likely to be one of the worst economic contractions for decades as the world locks down to fight the coronavirus pandemic.
As the coronavirus outbreak forced classes online, Boston Public Schools ordered 20,000 laptops and had them in hand in four days – an unusually fast turnaround made possible by a build-up of inventory prompted by the U.S.-China trade war.
KKR & Co has shelved a plan to sell Singapore-based Goodpack, which provides shipping containers and logistics services, after the coronavirus outbreak hit valuations, sources with knowledge of the matter said on Wednesday.
Asian shares and Wall Street futures fell on Wednesday in the first trading session of the quarter as the coronavirus pandemic and the prospect of a global recession tore through investor confidence.
KKR & Co. has shelved a process to sell Singapore-based Goodpack, an intermediate bulk container maker, after the coronavirus outbreak impacted valuations for the proposed deal, multiple sources with knowledge of the matter said on Wednesday.
Apple more than doubled its donation to China’s efforts to fight COVID-19 to over 50 million yuan ($7 million), CEO Tim Cook posted on Weibo on Wednesday, weeks after the iPhone maker said it had opened all its 42 stores in one of its largest markets.
Factory activity contracted sharply across most of Asia in March as the coronavirus pandemic paralyzed economic activity across the globe, with sharp falls in export power-houses Japan and South Korea overshadowing a modest improvement in China.
The dollar was a touch firmer on Wednesday, buoyed by its safe-haven status with the world staring at what is likely to be one of the worst economic contractions for decades as it locks down to fight the coronavirus pandemic.
Global crude oil prices slid further on Wednesday, following their biggest-ever quarterly and monthly losses, as a bigger-than-expected rise in U.S. inventories and a widening rift within OPEC heightened oversupply fears.
Britain’s top banks said on Tuesday they would suspend dividend payments after pressure from the regulator, saving their capital as a buffer against expected losses from the economic fallout from the coronavirus.
Fiat Chrysler did not mention any possible delay in the merger process with France’s PSA during a call with unions on Tuesday, metal workers’ union FIOM said.
The Trump administration plans to lease out space for energy companies to store oil in the nation’s Strategic Petroleum Reserve, after a previous effort to buy millions of barrels for the emergency stockpile was canceled over a lack of funding, according to two people briefed on the matter.
Risk currencies looked fragile and the yen firmed on Wednesday, the first day of a quarter that looks set to see the worst economic contractions for decades in many countries as they scramble to tackle the coronavirus epidemic.
Crude oil benchmarks opened the month mixed on Wednesday, following their biggest-ever quarterly and monthly losses, overshadowed by fears of global oversupply as data showed a bigger-than-expected rise in inventories in the United States.
Bond investor and DoubleLine Capital Chief Executive Jeffrey Gundlach said on Tuesday he believes the coronavirus sell-off is not over yet and that the lows stocks hit in March will be surpassed in April due to uncertainty over the outbreak.
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