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Samsung Electronics said on Friday that it has suspended its home appliance factory in the United States after two of its workers had tested positive for coronavirus.

Recent negotiations involving leaders from major oil-producing nations and the United States will prove irrelevant for oil prices, which are low because of depressed demand, the chief executive of Brazil's Petrobras said on Thursday evening.

Oil prices fell on Friday, coming off their biggest one-day gains in the previous session, after U.S. President Donald Trump said he had brokered a deal between Saudi Arabia and Russia to cut output, but made no offer to reduce U.S. production.

Neiman Marcus Group is stepping up preparations to seek bankruptcy protection, after the coronavirus pandemic forced the debt-laden U.S. luxury department store chain to close its stores, people familiar with the matter said on Thursday.

Boeing Co said on Thursday it will temporarily suspend production at facilities in Ridley Township, Pennsylvania, amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, adding that the suspension will last two weeks, with work to resume on April 20.

Airbnb lowered its internal valuation by 16% to $26 billion, as the U.S. home rental firm grapples with a slowdown in bookings due to the global spread of the coronavirus pandemic, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters on Thursday.

The coronavirus pandemic has disrupted global food supplies and is causing labour shortages in agriculture worldwide.

German automaker Volkswagen said on Wednesday it would extend until April 30 a suspension of activities at two production plants in central Mexico after the government declared a health emergency because of coronavirus.

Crude oil futures surged on Thursday after U.S. President Donald Trump said he expected Saudi Arabia and Russia to reach a deal soon to end their oil price war and Russian President Vladimir Putin called for a solution to "challenging" oil markets.

Saudi Arabia supports cooperation between oil producers to stabilize the oil market but Russia's opposition to a proposal last month to deepen oil supply cuts has caused market turmoil, a senior Gulf source familiar with Saudi thinking told Reuters.

Boeing Co was set to offer employee buyout and early retirement packages, two people familiar with the matter said on Wednesday, a bid to mitigate the financial fallout from the coronavirus pandemic.

The global oil refining industry is facing a reckoning from falling fuel demand that is the deepest and fastest ever.

SoftBank Group Corp said it has terminated a $3 billion tender offer for additional WeWork shares agreed last year with shareholders, including ousted co-founder Adam Neumann, drawing threats of legal action from other board members.

Boeing Co is set to offer buyout and early retirement packages to employees, two people familiar with the matter said on Wednesday, a bid to mitigate the financial fallout from the coronavirus pandemic.

Asian share markets were pinned down on Thursday, haunted by the rising U.S. coronavirus death toll, and with investors braced for more signs of economic pain in the world's largest economy ahead of another likely record week of jobless claims.