Reuters Business News

U.S. stocks opened lower for a second straight day on Tuesday as a historic crash in U.S. crude prices to below zero and gloomy quarterly forecasts heralded the biggest economic slump since the Great Depression.

Starbucks Corp said on Monday it would roll out a plant-based food and beverage menu in China this week, launching Beyond Meat Inc and Oatly products in a country which is trying to recover from coronavirus shutdowns.

Lockheed Martin reported better-than-expected quarterly profit on Tuesday, helped by higher sales in its aeronautics business that makes the F-35 fighter jets, but lowered its 2020 sales outlook due to coronavirus-led supply chain delays.

It took Lucio and Meera Santoro 35 years to build up their London design company and just a week to watch it fall apart.

The U.S. economic recession underway, caused by the coronavirus pandemic, will be worse than previously thought, with more economists polled by Reuters over the past week expecting a "U-shaped" recovery rather than any other option.

Google said on Tuesday it would stop charging merchants to place products on its Google Shopping search page as it looks to win e-commerce advertising business from Amazon.com Inc and other online retailers, just as they are struggling to supply customers with some items due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Virgin Australia's entry into administration could give any successful bidder for the country's second-biggest airline the chance to free it from a complex ownership structure that has slowed decision making and been blamed for years of losses.

Domestic air traffic is down 70% globally and the recovery over the coming six months is likely to be slow due to the damage coronavirus has done to economic conditions, the industry's representative body IATA said on Tuesday.

Benchmark Brent and U.S. oil futures for June delivery plunged to around two-decade lows on Tuesday, a day after U.S. May futures sank into negative territory for the first time in history as demand tumbled due to the coronavirus crisis.

U.S. stock index futures resumed their slide on Tuesday as gloomy quarterly earnings reports and a historic collapse in U.S. crude prices to below zero raised the spectre of a deep global recession in the coming months.

Canadian exercise apparel brand Lululemon issued statements on Tuesday apologising for, and distancing itself from, a T-shirt design promoted by one of its art directors that triggered outrage and accusations of racism online.

Global stocks fell on Tuesday, a day after U.S. crude oil prices turned negative for the first time ever, as dismal corporate earnings underlined worries about economic damage from the coronavirus pandemic.

Primark owner Associated British Foods' decision not to pay an interim dividend to shareholders was "absolutely the right thing to do" given the coronavirus crisis, its boss said on Tuesday.

Primark owner Associated British Foods will not pay an interim dividend to save cash during the coronavirus crisis and has booked a 284 million pound ($352 million) charge to reflect an expected lower value of stock when its stores reopen.

Lockheed Martin Corp , the Pentagon's No.1 weapons supplier, reported a 9.2% rise in quarterly revenue on Tuesday, helped by higher sales in its aeronautics unit, which makes the F-35 fighter jets.

A verdict in a case involving U.S. e-commerce giant Amazon will be issued by the Court of Appeal in Versailles on April 24, a French judge said on Tuesday.

Coca-Cola Co on Tuesday forecast a hit to current-quarter results as restaurants, theaters and other venues that represent about half of the company's revenue remain closed because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Senators from both major U.S. parties are pressing the Federal Reserve to say more about the role that climate considerations could play in its asset purchase programs, showing the new focus of investors on environmental considerations.

Investors are once again crowding into a narrow range of technology and internet stocks, heightening concerns that the market's dramatic bounce from last month's lows is becoming increasingly vulnerable to sharp reversals as the coronavirus outbreak continues to batter the economy.

U.S. oil futures continued to trade in negative territory on Tuesday, after closing down nearly $40 on Monday in their first ever sub-zero dive, as concerns grew the United States will run out of storage for a glut caused by the coronavirus lockdown.