The number of Americans filing claims for unemployment benefits surged to a record of more than 3 million last week as strict measures to contain the coronavirus pandemic brought the country to a sudden halt, unleashing a wave of layoffs that likely ended the longest employment boom in U.S. history.
Wall Street surged on Thursday as record weekly jobless claims came in below investors' worst fears, while also making a strong case for more aggressive stimulus to aid businesses and families wrecked by the economic fallout of the coronavirus pandemic.
U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said she expected the chamber to pass an estimated $2.2 trillion coronavirus relief bill when it meets on Friday, after the Senate overwhelmingly approved the unprecedented economic rescue legislation Wednesday evening.
The U.S. Senate on Wednesday unanimously backed a $2 trillion bill aimed at helping unemployed workers and industries hurt by the coronavirus epidemic, as well as providing billions of dollars to buy urgently needed medical equipment.
Oil prices lost more than $1 a barrel on Thursday as restrictions on travel worldwide slashed fuel demand, with U.S. crude futures plunging more than 6% after the United States scrapped plans to buy domestic oil for its emergency reserve.
Cirque du Soleil Entertainment Group is exploring debt restructuring options that include a potential bankruptcy filing, after it was forced to cancel shows because of the coronavirus outbreak, people familiar with the matter said.
The Federal Reserve announced Thursday it was giving small U.S. banks another month to file financial statements due at the end of March.
Prospective buyers arriving at Betsy and Eric Melby's house for sale in Memphis, Tennessee, last week were greeted by a large pump bottle of hand sanitizer and a box of disposable gloves.
Ford Motor Co announced plans on Thursday to shore up its finances amid the coronavirus pandemic, aiming to generate more cash by resuming production next month of its most profitable vehicles while saving money through further cost cuts.
Stock exchanges across Europe have implemented their business continuity plans due to the coronavirus epidemic and markets are working well under extreme conditions, the Federation of European Securities Exchanges said on Thursday.
Global oil demand could drop as much as 20 million barrels per day or 20% of total demand as 3 billion people are currently in a lockdown because of the coronavirus outbreak, the head of the International Energy Agency said.
Toyota Motor Corp said it will extend a shutdown of all North American plants for two weeks due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and decline in vehicle demand.
A Wall Street rally powered global gains in stocks on Thursday despite a record number of new unemployment filings in the United States, as traders focused on the unanimous passage of a $2 trillion coronavirus relief bill in the U.S. Senate and the possibility of more stimulus to come.
Senior cabinet officials in the Trump administration agreed to new measures to restrict the global supply of chips to China's Huawei Technologies, sources familiar with the matter said, as the White House ramps up criticism of China over coronavirus.
Retail brokerages have suffered sporadic outages this month amid unprecedented volatility and volume in markets amid the coronavirus crisis.