Reuters Business News

Amazon made its case on Tuesday in a French court of appeal to keep deliveries on track in the country, rejecting unions' allegations that it was not doing its best to protect employees from COVID-19.

Brent crude futures plunged 25% on Tuesday to the lowest in nearly two decades, a day after panicked traders sent U.S. oil below minus $40 per barrel on fears of a historic glut due to the destruction of fuel demand by the coronavirus pandemic.

Kazakh oil producers, which export crude via the Caspian pipeline consortium (CPC), are seeking to divert flows to Russia's Transneft from May in an attempt to minimize losses as CPC Blend margins and demand fall, five market sources said.

Wall Street retreated for a second straight day on Tuesday as a collapse in U.S. crude prices and glum annual forecasts by companies foreshadowed the biggest economic slump since the Great Depression.

The price of a barrel of benchmark U.S. oil plunged below $0 a barrel on Monday for the first time in history, a troubling sign of an unprecedented global energy glut as the coronavirus pandemic halts travel and curbs economic activity.

Lockheed Martin said on Tuesday the spread of coronavirus has delayed shipments of vital supplies to its numerous businesses and will likely hurt its sales this year.

JPMorgan Chase & Co , the largest U.S. lender, said on Tuesday it was working on a plan to bring thousands of employees currently working from home back onsite in phases, according to an internal memo seen by Reuters.

Amazon is extending the closure of its French warehouses until April 25 included, the online retail giant said in a written statement on Tuesday.

A group of firms, including Airbus and Ford, could build more than the current government order of 20,000 ventilators and continue once normal operations begin to resume, the head of the project told Reuters on Tuesday.

A violent hailstorm that hit the Bordeaux wine region last Friday has caused severe damage, with several hundred hectares of vines nearly destroyed, notably in the famous Saint-Emilion region, the local chamber of agriculture said on Tuesday.

U.S. home sales dropped by the most in nearly 4-1/2 years in March as extraordinary measures to control the spread of the novel coronavirus brought buyer traffic to a virtual standstill, with realtors and economists expecting a further deterioration in housing market activity through the second quarter.

Air Canada said on Tuesday it would suspend flights between Canada and the United States after April 26 due to the coronavirus pandemic.

New York state charged Mallinckrodt Plc on Tuesday with insurance fraud for misrepresenting the safety and efficacy of its opioid drugs, leading to medically unnecessary prescriptions.

Faltering consumer confidence will slow the recovery of air travel once coronavirus restrictions end, the sector's main global body warned on Tuesday, citing bleak new survey data.

Gucci sales were hit hard at the beginning of the coronavirus crisis due to its strong reliance on Chinese customers, owner Kering said on Tuesday, though it added that the Italian brand should be well positioned for a recovery.

The German financial markets watchdog BaFin said on Tuesday it had fined BlackRock Investment Management (UK) Ltd 744,000 euros ($809,000) for failure to file voting rights notifications in a timely way.

Xerox Holdings Corp said on Tuesday it will make hand sanitizer in its factories in the United States and Canada to fight the spread of coronavirus, and start deliveries to healthcare organizations later this month.

Oil futures for June plunged to near two-decade lows on Tuesday, as the panic that sent U.S. May futures to below minus $40 per barrel on Monday bled further into the markets due to worries about the coronavirus pandemic's effect on fuel demand in a market overrun by supply.

Wall Street retreated for a second straight day on Tuesday as a collapse in U.S. crude prices and glum annual forecasts by companies foreshadowed the biggest economic slump since the Great Depression due to the coronavirus outbreak.

The U.S. energy secretary said on Tuesday he would talk with leaders in the U.S. House of Representatives later in the day and urge them to fund the purchase of crude to fill the emergency oil reserve.