Bank of America Corp Chief Executive Brian Moynihan said the bank has already received roughly 10,000 applications for federally backed small business loans within the first hour of starting to accept them.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said on Friday that community banks have processed hundreds of small-business loans aimed at shoring up the economy during the global coronavirus pandemic, and sounded a positive note about a new program that lenders have greeted with skepticism.
Top White House economic advisor Larry Kudlow said on Friday that there would be big demand for a small-business loan program but that the banks were prepared for it despite concerns that they would be overwhelmed by the need created by an economic shutdown aimed at slowing the spread of the coronavirus.
U.S. services sector activity slowed to a more than 3-1/2-year low in March, with industries reporting a moderation in new orders and decline in employment amid the coronavirus pandemic, which has brought the country to sudden stop.
A price war between world oil producers has slashed Venezuela's revenue for its top export and exacerbated the country's financial crisis as it also faces the coronavirus pandemic, U.S. sanctions and sliding crude output.
Global stock markets sank Friday following more signs that the COVID-19 pandemic would take a massive toll on economic growth, while oil prices continued to rally on hopes of a cut to global supply.
3M Co said on Friday it would increase the production of respirators and import more masks into the United States, after President Donald Trump invoked a law to help ease a shortage in the items needed to protect health staff against the coronavirus.
Ford Motor Co said on Friday Chief Executive Officer Jim Hackett's total compensation fell to $17.4 million in 2019 from $17.8 million in 2018.
Wall Street's main indexes opened lower on Friday as the novel coronavirus brought the longest U.S. employment expansion on record to an abrupt end.
The U.S. has asked banks to help it dole out at least $350 billion in loans to small businesses, part of the $2 trillion coronavirus stimulus law.
"I had a business that was closed. It was doing great, and then one day I learned I was closed. You better help," CNBC's Jim Cramer said.
Financial scammers are employing several tactics to take advantage of unsuspecting Americans amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Deep oil output cuts by OPEC and other producing nations would not be enough to prevent a huge build in global crude inventories in the second quarter as measures to contain the coronavirus lead to "unprecedented" demand loss, the head of the International Energy Agency, Fatih Birol, said.
The dollar resumed its climb against major currencies on Friday as investors took refuge in safety bids amid worsening economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic.
The U.S. economy shed 701,000 jobs in March, abruptly ending a historic 113 straight months of employment growth as stringent measures to control the novel coronavirus outbreak shuttered businesses and factories, confirming a recession is underway.