Reuters Business News

The number of Americans seeking jobless benefits fell last week, but millions laid off because of COVID-19 continue to receive unemployment checks, suggesting the labor market could take years to heal from the pandemic even as hiring resumes.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) said on Thursday that it ordered Amazon.com Inc and eBay Inc to stop selling a wide range of pesticide products on their platforms, including those that are falsely marketed as being effective against the novel coronavirus.

Zoom Video Communications temporarily shut the account belonging to a group of U.S.-based Chinese activists after they held an event to commemorate the 31st anniversary of China's Tiananmen Square crackdown, the activists said on Thursday.

Just Eat Takeaway said on Thursday its proposed $6 billion takeover of Grubhub to create a trans-Atlantic giant would give it the upper hand in the online food delivery market, where competitors are scrambling for share.

European food-ordering firm Just Eat Takeaway.com NV said on Wednesday it had agreed to buy U.S. peer Grubhub Inc in an all-stock deal that, if completed, would create the world's largest food delivery company outside China.

Moderna Inc on Thursday confirmed it plans to start a trial of 30,000 volunteers of its much-anticipated coronavirus vaccine in July as the company enters the final stage of testing.

U.S. stocks extended losses on Thursday, with the S&P 500 on track for its sharpest percentage decline since April 1, as investors worried about a second wave of coronavirus infections and a grim economic forecast from the Federal Reserve.

The United States cannot let the coronavirus shut down its economy again, U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said on Thursday, adding that more than $1 trillion in rescue funds will flow into the economy over the next month.

Delta Air Lines Inc next week is launching a program to test employees for active COVID-19 and antibodies under a partnership with the Mayo Clinic and Quest Diagnostics Inc, Chief Executive Ed Bastian said in an employee memo on Thursday.

The S&P 500 and the Dow Jones hit a one-week low on Thursday, after a sharp climb over the past month, as investors worried about a second wave of coronavirus infections and a grim forecast for the economy from the Federal Reserve.

PayPal Holdings Inc said on Thursday it was pledging $530 million to support black and minority-owned businesses in the United States and foster diversity, amid worldwide protests over racial injustice.

Volkswagen on Thursday apologised for posting on its Instagram page last month an advert widely criticised as "racist", and said it was published because of a lack of cultural sensitivity.

Oil prices slumped on Thursday, dragged down by another record build-up in U.S. crude inventories and the U.S. Federal Reserve's projections that the world's biggest economy would shrink 6.5% this year.

U.S. stocks opened sharply lower on Thursday with the Nasdaq falling after a four-day rally on fears of a second wave of coronavirus infections and a grim economic forecast from the Federal Reserve.

Takeda Pharmaceutical Co Ltd has agreed to sell a portfolio of over-the-counter and prescription drugs marketed in the Asia Pacific region to South Korea's Celltrion Inc for $278 million, it said on Thursday

Billionaire investor William Ackman's hedge fund Pershing Square Capital Management has filed confidentially with U.S. regulators for an initial public offering (IPO) of a blank-check investment vehicle that could raise more than $1 billion and be the biggest of its kind, according to people familiar with the matter.

U.S. stock futures fell sharply on Thursday on jitters over a second wave of coronavirus infections and a grim forecast for the economy from the Federal Reserve.

Layoffs in the United States are abating, but millions who lost their jobs because of COVID-19 continue to draw unemployment benefits, suggesting the labor market could take years to heal from the pandemic even as businesses resume hiring workers.

Oil prices fell on Thursday, hit by another record build-up in U.S. crude inventories and the U.S. Federal Reserve's projections that the world's biggest economy would shrink 6.5% this year.

Anglo-Dutch Unilever plans to become a single holding company based in Britain, unwinding a dual-headed structure which has been in place for 90 years.