Reuters

Britain faces a "massive shortage" of ventilators that will be needed to treat critically ill patients suffering from coronavirus, after it failed to invest enough in intensive care equipment, a leading ventilator manufacturer said on Wednesday.

U.S. regulators are considering giving banks additional regulatory points for lending to mid- to low-income Americans hurt by the coronavirus, as they seek to mitigate the economic impact of the pandemic, an official within a banking agency told Reuters.

Borrowing costs in the United States, euro zone, Britain and Japan surged on Wednesday after two days in which governments across the globe announced trillions of dollars of spending to support locked-down economies frozen by the coronavirus.

Sharp Corp has filed a patent infringement lawsuit against the Japanese unit of Tesla Inc, seeking an injunction to halt imports of some electric vehicles (EV) to Japan, a source familiar with the matter said on Wednesday.

Boeing Co on Tuesday called for a $60 billion lifeline for the struggling U.S. aerospace manufacturing industry, which faces huge losses from the coronavirus pandemic.

Brazil's antitrust watchdog on Wednesday dismissed allegations against a proposed takeover by Boeing Co of Embraer SA's commercial plane division, maintaining its approval of the deal.

Delta Air Lines said on Wednesday it was parking more than 600 jets, cutting corporate pay by as much as 50%, and scaling back its flying by more than 70% until demand begins to recover from the coronavirus epidemic hit.

German carmaker Audi AG said on Wednesday that it will suspend production at its plant in Mexico's Puebla state from March 23 through April 13 as the coronavirus hits global supply chains.

Textron Aviation, a unit of Textron Inc , announced furloughs for most of its U.S.-based workforce on Wednesday as concerns over depressed demand due to the spreading coronavirus ripples through global aviation.

Wall Street's four-week slump deepened and the Dow Jones Industrials was set to surrender all its "Trump-bump" gains on Wednesday, as the coronavirus pandemic threatened to bring the U.S. economic activity to a grinding halt.

Several hundred Amazon workers protested in France on Wednesday, calling on the online retailer to cease operations or make it easier for employees not wanting to work during the coronavirus outbreak to stay away.

Zara owner Inditex, whose polka dot dress was a high-street sensation in 2019, may soon be stitching hospital scrubs, helping its home country Spain fight the coronavirus epidemic, the company said on Wednesday.

British American Tobacco , the world's No.2 tobacco maker, said on Wednesday the coronavirus outbreak has not had any material impact on it as consumers continue to make purchases even in harder hit countries.

The Detroit Three automakers will shut down their U.S. plants to stop the spread of coronavirus, bowing to pressure from the union representing about 150,000 hourly workers at those facilities, industry officials said.

Automakers are halting production at plants across Europe as they grapple with coronavirus and diving demand.

The Detroit Three automakers have agreed to shut down their U.S. plants to stop the spread of coronavirus, bowing to pressure from the union representing about 150,000 hourly workers at those facilities, a person familiar with the matter said on Wednesday.

S&P 500 companies' earnings are expected to decline in the first quarter from the year-earlier period, reversing a forecast for profit gains, according to IBES data from Refinitiv, as companies face the toll from the coronavirus outbreak.

The S&P 500 index fell on Wednesday when trading resumed after an initial automatic 15-minute cutout, as investors priced in a complete breakdown in business activity and consumer spending from the coronavirus pandemic.

The French government will consult with its Dutch counterpart before making any decision over support for Air France, the French subsidiary of Air France-KLM , Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said on Wednesday.

Tesla Inc's vehicle factory in California appeared to be operating normally on Wednesday despite an order by local officials to comply with a three-week lockdown in the San Francisco Bay Area to rein in the spread of coronavirus.