Asian shares climbed to a near two-month peak on Wednesday as investors took heart from easing coronavirus lockdowns in some parts of the world, better-than-expected corporate earnings and a welcome rebound in oil prices.
AstraZeneca on Wednesday beat analysts' estimates for first-quarter profit and reiterated its outlook for 2020, as demand for the company's newer medicines remained steady.
WPP , the world's biggest advertising company, said net sales fell 3.3% in the first quarter, with the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic dragging it down by 7.9% in March alone, prompting it to cut more costs.
Shares in airline group IAG fell 3% after the airline group launched a plan to shrink its main British Airways business, axing staff numbers by a quarter as it warned of a slow recovery from the coronavirus pandemic.
Britain's John Lewis Partnership [JLPLC.UL] has appointed James Bailey, a former director of Sainsbury's , to be the new boss of its upmarket supermarket chain Waitrose, it said on Wednesday.
British clothing retailer Next has shored up its finances to help get it through the coronavirus crisis by selling property, suspending share buybacks and dividends and cutting costs after first-quarter sales fell 41%.
AstraZeneca topped analysts' estimates for quarterly profit and reiterated its targets for the year on Wednesday, as the British drugmaker benefited from higher demand for some of its medicines during the coronavirus pandemic.
German auto supplier and technology company Robert Bosch [ROBG.UL] on Wednesday said it expected automotive production to fall by at least 20% this year, as the coronavirus pandemic slams the brakes on factory production lines and saps demand.
German carmaker Volkswagen is expecting an operating loss in the current quarter due the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, its chief financial officer said on Wednesday.
Volvo Car Group, owned by China's Geely Holding, said on Wednesday it was giving notice of redundancy to 1,300 white-collar workers in Sweden as the impact from the pandemic raised the urgency of lowering structural costs.
World shares eked out slim gains on Wednesday, with optimism over economies easing coronavirus lockdowns and oil prices clawing back ground leavened by caution over corporate earnings.
Airbus on Wednesday posted a 49% slump in first-quarter core profit and called for an industry-wide campaign to restore confidence in flying after the coronavirus pandemic triggered the "gravest crisis the aerospace industry has ever known".
Standard Chartered PLC on Wednesday said it expects its main markets to lead global economic recovery from the COVID-19 crisis as early as later this year, striking an optimistic note after increased bad loan provisions squashed quarterly profit.
Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz and Lufthansa boss Carsten Spohr will meet in Vienna on Wednesday to discuss urgently needed state aid for the German carrier's Austrian business, a spokesman for Kurz said.
Britain's John Lewis Partnership has appointed James Bailey, a former director of Sainsbury's , to be the new boss of its upmarket supermarket chain Waitrose, it said on Wednesday.