Reuters Business News

Global stock markets fell on Thursday as a continued rise in the number of coronavirus cases dashed hopes of a swift recovery from the pandemic-induced economic slump and drove demand for safe-haven currencies such as the dollar and Japanese yen.

Electric vehicle maker Tesla Inc wants to start building a large vehicle assembly plant in the southwestern United States as early as the third quarter of this year, the company told Texas officials in documents made public this week.

Oil prices rose slightly on Thursday as a panel of OPEC and its allies met to review record oil supply cuts, even as the market remained concerned about additional coronavirus cases reported in parts of the United States and China.

Commercial insurers are scrutinizing building managers' efforts to avoid outbreaks of Legionnaires' disease as they re-open movie theaters, gyms, schools and offices that had been closed for months due to the coronavirus pandemic, industry sources told Reuters.

U.S. House of Representatives Democrats on Thursday unveiled a $1.5 trillion infrastructure bill that they will seek to pass in coming weeks, arguing it has been made more urgent by the coronavirus pandemic.

Wall Street struggled for direction on Thursday as investors weighed a resurgence in coronavirus infections and the possibility of a new round of shutdowns against data that suggested the U.S. economy might not bounce back with quick, V-shaped recovery.

Hundreds of people who lost jobs during the coronavirus crisis but have been unable to get their unemployment insurance checks converged at the Kentucky Capitol in Frankfort early Wednesday to seek in-person help.

Lufthansa's biggest shareholder, German billionaire Heinz Hermann Thiele, has reached out to Berlin politicians for talks, Handelsblatt said, the latest step in a standoff over the airline's 9 billion euro ($10.1 billion) bailout.

Colgate-Palmolive on Thursday said it was working to review and evolve its Chinese toothpaste brand, Darlie, the latest in a string of brand reassessments amid a U.S. debate on racial inequality.

A newly discovered spyware effort attacked users through 32 million downloads of extensions to Google's market-leading Chrome web browser, researchers at Awake Security told Reuters, highlighting the tech industry's failure to protect browsers as they are used more for email, payroll and other sensitive functions.

The S&P 500 was little changed on Thursday as coronavirus infections picked up again in parts of the United States and data showed an elevated level of weekly jobless claims, lending weight to predictions of a prolonged economic recovery.

The White House announced on Thursday that President Donald Trump intends to nominate Caroline Crenshaw to fill a Democratic vacancy at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

The number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits fell last week, but the pace of decline has stalled amid a second wave of layoffs as companies battle weak demand and fractured supply chains, supporting views that the economy faces a long and difficult recovery from the COVID-19 recession.

LATAM Airlines Chief Executive Roberto Alvo said on Thursday he expects the region´s largest carrier to be operating at half of pre-pandemic levels by the end of 2020, and that a full recovery was unlikely for at least 3-4 years.

Ford Motor Co next week will show the next generation of its brawny F-150 pickup truck that offers a new sleeper-seat feature and over-the-air software updates in a machine Ford is counting on to help pay off coronavirus-related debts.

The luxury industry will feel the fallout from the coronavirus crisis for the next two years if not longer, Chanel's chief financial officer said on Thursday, warning the French fashion label's 2020 revenues and profit would be significantly hit.

Wirecard's auditor has refused to sign off its 2019 accounts over a missing $2.1 billion, sending its shares down more than 60% as the German payments firm said the delay could cause billions in loans to be called in as soon as Friday.

The White House announced on Thursday that President Donald Trump intends to nominate Caroline Crenshaw to fill a Democratic vacancy at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

U.S. supermarket chain Kroger Co stopped short of raising its annual forecasts on Thursday, saying a coronavirus-driven surge in demand for essential goods was fading as American households reconsider what they have on their shelves.

The coronavirus crisis has forced carmakers to speed up layoffs that must be matched with hefty payouts and deft negotiation to retain the support of powerful trade unions vital if Europe's auto industry is to manage a shift to low-emission vehicles.