Stocks sunk deeper into the red on Thursday, oil prices fell and U.S. Treasuries rallied into record territory as more signs of the global spread of the coronavirus heightened fears of a pandemic.
China's top container ports are loosening the backlog of cargoes on their docks as workers return to their posts after coronavirus travel curbs that kept them away and jammed up global supply chains have been eased.
WPP , the world's biggest advertising company, reported a sharp slowdown in its final quarter of the year on Thursday and said it did not expect any improvement in 2020, hammering its shares once again.
British retailer Tesco has asked bidders to submit binding offers for its Asian business by Friday, in a deal that will see Thai billionaires fight for an asset valued at up to $9 billion, sources with direct knowledge of the matter said.
Carbon emissions throughout the full value chain of IKEA furniture fell for the first time last year, brand owner Inter IKEA said on Thursday citing increased use of renewable energy.
ABB's robotics division is "well placed" to increase sales by broadening its business beyond the struggling automotive sector, the Swiss engineering company said on Thursday, confirming its profitability goal.
Aston Martin shares slumped to a record low on Thursday after the British luxury carmaker said its losses ballooned last year and its chief financial officer would leave by the end of April.
Online fashion retailer Zalando plans to offer more premium and luxury ranges and move into the vintage clothing market as it predicted slower sales growth in 2020 after a strong final quarter to 2019.
Bayer said on Thursday it was targeting growth in adjusted core profit of 7% to 9.6% this year, driven by sales of agriculture products and pharmaceuticals, with only the upper end of that range meeting market projections.
Shares in Finnish telecom network equipment maker Nokia Oyj outperformed a falling market on Thursday, following a Bloomberg report it was weighing options for potential asset sales and mergers.
Blackstone Group Inc Chief Executive Stephen Schwarzman said the world's biggest private equity firm cannot buy Bloomberg should it come up for sale as long as the firm owns competitor Refinitiv.
Banks must improve transparency on their exposure to climate- change risk and central banks need to pay closer attention as the entire financial sector is at risk, European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde said on Thursday.
Oil prices fell 2% on Thursday, plunging for fifth day to their lowest since January 2019 as a rise in new coronavirus cases outside China fuelled fears of a pandemic that could slow the global economy and dent demand for crude.
The world's largest brewer Anheuser-Busch InBev forecast a 10% decline in first-quarter profit on Thursday after the coronavirus outbreak hit beer sales during the Chinese New Year, sending its shares skidding.
Stocks resumed their plunge, wiping out more than $3 trillion in value this week alone, and U.S. Treasuries yields hit record lows on Thursday as the coronavirus spread faster outside China and investors fled to safe havens.