Asian shares faced another leg lower on Wednesday as the coronavirus sharply slows global growth, leading a gauge of world stocks to post its biggest quarterly decline in more than a decade and oil prices to trade near lows last seen in 2002.
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.
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.
Asian stocks clung to gains on Wednesday, helped by a bounce in Australian shares, but risks for equities remain large as the coronavirus pandemic rattles the underpinnings of the global economy.
American Express Co will avoid job cuts in 2020 as the credit card issuer "rides out the storm" brought on by the coronavirus pandemic, Chief Executive Officer Steve Squeri said in a video message to employees on LinkedIn.
The head of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission said on Monday that it should not ban short-selling of shares, amid speculation on further measures the agency might take to arrest a market rout that stems from fears the coronavirus will spark a global recession.
Oil major BP PLC will not cut jobs over the next three months, Chief Executive Officer Bernard Looney said, even as the company seeks to reduce spending following an oil price crash.
The U.S. government has cut deals with Johnson & Johnson and Moderna Inc and said it is in talks with at least two other companies to expand manufacturing capacity within the United States for vaccines to prevent the new coronavirus even before safe and effective ones become available.
Kohl's Corp said on Monday it would extend the duration of store closure, and fully draw down on its $1 billion revolving credit facility to control damages from the coronavirus pandemic.
As U.S. officials role out trillions of dollars in new economic support, a Federal Reserve policymaker on Monday said focus will now shift to whether those programs prove adequate or need to be expanded even further.
U.S. new vehicle sales likely drove off a cliff in March as the coronavirus pandemic pounded consumer confidence and shuttered dealerships across much of the country, and sales are likely to take a further beating in April as social distancing guidelines remain in place.
Britain's Aston Martin said on Monday it is furloughing some employees as it handles the fallout from the coronavirus outbreak which has closed its car factories.