Europe led world stock markets back to higher ground on Thursday as tentative moves to reopen parts of the some of its larger coronavirus-hit economies offset some truly stinking global economic numbers.
The world's biggest asset manager BlackRock Inc saw the capital it manages fall by almost $1 trillion in the first quarter as investors pulled money out of its marquee funds amid the most damaging stock market selloff in more than a decade.
Huawei Technologies Co Ltd is gradually shifting production of chips designed in-house away from Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co Ltd (TSMC) and towards a mainland Chinese firm in preparation for more U.S. restrictions, sources familiar with the matter said.
U.S. stock index futures edged higher on Thursday, with investors weighing the prospects of the economy re-opening against worsening macroeconomic data and dour first-quarter earnings reports.
Luxury carmaker Bentley is extending its plant shutdown by three weeks and will begin gradually reopening from May 11, as coronavirus lockdown measures remain in place in Britain.
EasyJet can survive a nine-month shutdown thanks to its measures to contend with the coronavirus crisis and is planning for a slow recovery, the British airline said on Thursday.
Uber Eats said orders for grocery delivery on its platform jumped 59% across Europe in March compared with February as countries locked down to fight the coronavirus, helping offset some of the impact of shuttered restaurants on demand.
Ford Motor Co said on Thursday that its China vehicle sales in the first three months this year fell 34.9% from a year earlier to 88,770 units, as the novel coronavirus epidemic hit demand in the world's biggest auto market.
"We could have seen the bottom," BlackRock co-founder and chief Larry Fink told CNBC on Thursday.
Amid the coronavirus pandemic, weddings and graduations are postponed, while conferences, concerts, sporting events and vacations are all canceled, leaving many people with out-of-pocket costs.
Oil prices rose on Thursday after sharp losses in the previous session, with investors hoping that a big build-up in U.S. inventories may mean producers have little option but to deepen output cuts as the coronavirus pandemic ravages demand.
U.S. stocks index futures jumped on Thursday after weekly U.S. jobless claims fell to 5.2 million last week from an upwardly revised 6.62 million the week before.
Another 5.2 million more Americans sought unemployment benefits last week, lifting total filings for claims over the past month above an astounding 20 million, which would underscore the deepening economic slump caused by the novel coronavirus outbreak.
As job losses mount, you can take a few steps now to ease the blow of a potential layoff or furlough.
Airbus said on Thursday it had received multiple requests from customers to defer deliveries after travel demand collapsed due to the coronavirus epidemic.