SoftBank Group Corp is buying back up to $4.8 billion of its shares after their recent slump, a move that partially met the demand of activist fund Elliott Management but failed to soothe investors panicking from the coronavirus pandemic.
The Trump administration is not considering broad relief from import tariffs on Chinese goods to ease economic pain from the coronavirus, U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said on Friday, dashing the hopes of industry and some lawmakers.
U.S. consumer sentiment fell less than expected in early March as households responded to the coronavirus pandemic and a sharp stock market sell-off, but also hoped that any disruptions to economic activity would be temporary.
Oil prices were lower on Friday, with Brent crude on track for its biggest weekly slide in nearly three decades as the coronavirus outbreak threatened the global economy and Saudi Arabia stepped up plans to flood markets with more crude oil.
The Federal Communications Commission said Friday that major internet providers - including Comcast Corp, AT&T Inc and Verizon Communications Inc - agreed not to terminate service for subscribers for the next 60 days if they are unable to pay their bills due to disruptions caused by the coronavirus.
Security forces will empty the streets of cities across Iran in the next 24 hours in a drive to fight the spread of the new coronavirus, state television reported on Friday.
French auto maker Renault's two Spanish plants, in Valladolid and in Palencia, will cease production for two days next week due to a lack of components amid a coronavirus epidemic, a company spokesman said on Friday.
British Airways warned that its survival was at stake on Friday as its CEO told staff of plans to cut jobs and ground aircraft to tackle the "worsening situation" caused by coronavirus.
A rebound on Wall Street on Friday fizzled out following reports that President Donald Trump was set to declare a national emergency to tackle the rapidly spreading coronavirus outbreak.
U.S. automakers General Motors Co and Ford Motor Co said on Friday they will have most of their white-collar workforce working remotely as of Monday to protect against the spread of the coronavirus.
Activist investor Elliott Management said on Friday it supports SoftBank Group Corp's latest move to buy back up to $4.8 billion of its shares.
Airlines are arguably the hardest hit industry due to the travel restrictions to slow down the spreading of the coronavirus.
Apple Inc on Friday called off the in-person portion of its annual developers conference scheduled to be held in San Jose and said it would run the program entirely online in June because of coronavirus fears.
Stocks across the globe bounced back on Friday after historic drops, but hopes of more central bank stimulus and government spending went only so far and the comeback lost steam in a week of pandemic panic-selling across markets.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has cautioned that more families will lose their loved ones to the coronavirus but has taken a distinctly different approach to tackling the outbreak.