A record 22 million Americans have sought unemployment benefits over the past month, with millions more filing claims last week, almost wiping out all the job gains since the Great Recession and underscoring the toll on the economy from extraordinary measures to control the novel coronavirus outbreak.
Abbott Laboratories Inc said on Thursday a recent ramp up in coronavirus tests production would help it ride out a tough current quarter as the outbreak chokes demand for its other diagnostic kits.
Luxury carmaker Ferrari has begun making parts to convert snorkel masks into respirators for treating patients with coronavirus and protecting medical workers.
The S&P 500 and Dow Jones slipped on Thursday, giving up early gains as concerns about dismal first-quarter earnings and lasting economic damage from the coronavirus pandemic offset better-than-expected weekly jobless claims numbers.
Turkey's latest squeeze of its $37 billion-a-day London lira market may succeed in boosting scarce hard currency reserves but analysts say it will not stem the lira's decline and that the country's reliance on foreign capital means it could backfire.
Lagardere shares rose as much as 12% on Thursday after Les Echos reported the French multimedia conglomerate could get help from French tycoon Vincent Bollore and Marc Ladreit de Lacharrière, who heads finance group Fimalac, in its fight with Amber Capital.
Swiss supervisor FINMA has received cryptocurrency project Libra's application for a payment system licence, it said on Thursday, after the Geneva-based association announced a major revamp of its planned payments system and oversight by global watchdogs.
Some businesses are still weighing whether to adopt changes that give participants easier access to their 401(k), while other plans have paused company contributions to workers' accounts.
Air traffic in Latin America in April has fallen 91% compared to a year earlier due to the coronavirus outbreak that fully grounded two of the region's largest airlines and canceled almost all other flights, industry group ALTA said on Thursday.
Italy's budget deficit will be near 10% of gross domestic product this year, a senior government official told Reuters, as Rome increases borrowing to try to soften the impact of the new coronavirus and the economy plunges into a deep recession.
Oil prices slid, with U.S. crude on track for its lowest close since 2002, after OPEC lowered its global oil demand forecast due to the plunge in demand delivered by the coronavirus outbreak.
Japanese automaker Nissan Motor Co said Thursday it will extend a shutdown of U.S. manufacturing plants until mid-May, citing the ongoing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
"Every time someone comes on 'Shark Tank,' they're full of hope and they're full of optimism," Robert Herjavec told CNBC.
Italian trade unions said on Thursday they had agreed with CNH Industrial on health and security measures so the vehicle maker is ready to resume work as soon as lockdown rules are eased.
World stock markets seesawed while bond yields retreated on Thursday as dire U.S. jobless data underscored a deepening downturn amid the coronavirus pandemic and tamped down investor hopes a listless economy would soon be back on its feet.