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Major meat companies in the United States and Canada have closed plants temporarily due to cases of the new coronavirus among employees and concerns about its spread.

Smithfield Foods, the world's biggest pork processor, said on Sunday it will shut a U.S. plant indefinitely due to a rash of coronavirus cases among employees and warned the country was moving "perilously close to the edge" in supplies for grocers.

President Donald Trump said on Monday that his administration was close to completing a plan to re-open the U.S. economy, which has been largely shut down to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus.

The Dow and S&P 500 fell on Monday as U.S. companies prepared to kick off a quarterly earnings season expected to be rough due to the coronavirus pandemic, while Amazon.com gains helped the Nasdaq end higher.

As lockdowns worldwide drive a surge in internet use, boosting online sales for businesses as varied as gaming and food delivery, the stocks of internet providers are an unlikely laggard on global markets.

The U.S. Treasury Department is holding firm on the terms of a $25 billion offer for government aid to airlines to help them meet payroll during the coronavirus downturn, officials said on Monday, and the plan could give the government more than 3% of American Airlines Group Inc .

U.S. Treasury officials have asked airlines seeking money from a $25 billion fund for payroll support to provide detailed information on their capital structure, liquidity and collateral, people briefed on the matter said.

Rupert Murdoch's News Corp said on Monday its newspaper advertising revenue would take a hit from widespread business closures caused by the coronavirus outbreak, although paid digital subscriptions for the Wall Street Journal are rising.

At a Wayne Farms chicken processing plant in Alabama, workers recently had to pay the company 10 cents a day to buy masks to protect themselves from the new coronavirus, according to a meat inspector.

With much of the world living in lockdown, the spread of the new coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, that was first detected in China late last year is beginning to slow in some places. As of April 12, 1.8 million had been infected and 115,000 killed by COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus.

Stocks on Wall Street mostly slid on Monday over concerns of what the coronavirus pandemic will do to corporate earnings, while crude prices were mixed as a global deal on record output cuts failed to quell doubts the pact would head off an oil glut.

Amazon will begin to put new grocery delivery customers on a wait list and curtail shopping hours at some Whole Foods stores to prioritize orders from existing customers buying food online during the coronavirus outbreak, the company said on Sunday.

President Donald Trump said on Monday it was his decision when to reopen the U.S. economy, not that of state governors, but legal experts disagree and governors are going their own way.

The Dow and S&P 500 fell on Monday after last week's strong gains, as U.S. companies prepared to kick off a quarterly earnings season expected to be rough due to the coronavirus pandemic, while Amazon gains helped the Nasdaq end higher.

Oil prices were mixed on Monday, as the historic production-cut deal inked by major global oil producers was not enough to assuage existing worries about the demand destruction brought on by the coronavirus pandemic.

U.S. Treasury officials have asked airlines seeking government payroll support to provide additional detailed information on capital structure, liquidity and loyalty programs, people briefed on the matter told Reuters.

(This April 10 story has been refiled to fix typo in 'aid' in paragraph nineteen.)

U.S. airlines are extending loyalty program benefits and status into 2021 for members homebound because of the new coronavirus.

When Reuters photographer Carlos Barria boarded American Airlines flight 4511 from Washington Reagan National Airport to New Orleans on Friday for an assignment, he was the only passenger on the 76-seat jet.

The U.S. economy is set for a deep slide in coming months with the coronavirus forcing businesses to shut and putting millions out of work, but Federal Reserve policymakers are also warning of a slugging recovery once the pandemic subsides.