Reuters Business News

Wall Street on Wednesday was unable to sustain strong gains from the previous session as fears about the economic toll of the coronavirus pandemic overshadowed optimism from sweeping fiscal and monetary stimulus to aid businesses and households.

EU antitrust regulators have opened a full investigation into Johnson & Johnson's acquisition of Takeda Pharmaceutical's surgical patch product TachoSil, concerned that the deal could lead to reduced choice and higher prices for customers.

Oil prices fell on Wednesday despite a massive pending U.S. economic stimulus package as the coronavirus pandemic sharply dented U.S. fuel demand in the latest week, with traders bracing for further declines.

French automaker Peugeot SA's joint venture in China with Dongfeng Motor Group said on Wednesday it had restarted car production at its plant in Wuhan city, the epicenter of China's coronavirus outbreak.

Alberto Mendoza figures he can make it a couple of weeks on unemployment benefits before starting to decide which bills won't get paid. The 26-year-old father of three lost his job training cooks when all the local restaurants started closing their doors and laying off staff.

Sales of Bristol-Myers Squibb Co's cancer drug Abraxane have been suspended in China based on findings at a third-party manufacturing plant in the United States.

A compromise $2 trillion economic rescue package that will be voted on by the U.S. Senate on Wednesday is set to give passenger airlines about $25 billion in grants, and up to another $8 billion for cargo carriers and airport contractors like caterers, three people briefed on the negotiations said.

British industry expects the government to give the go-ahead for an emergency ventilator production plan on Wednesday that will see a number of firms join forces to tackle the coronavirus outbreak, sources close to the process told Reuters.

EU antitrust regulators opened on Wednesday a full-scale investigation into Johnson & Johnson's buy of Takeda Pharmaceutical Co's surgical patch product TachoSil, saying the deal may hurt competition and innovation.

New orders for key U.S.-made capital goods fell sharply in February as demand for machinery and other products slumped, suggesting a deepening contraction in business investment that analysts said signaled the economy was already in recession.

The roughly $2 trillion emergency aid package being negotiated in Congress is "scaled about right" to match an economic hit that could throw as many as 46 million people out of work until the coronavirus outbreak is controlled, St. Louis Federal Reserve President James Bullard said on Wednesday.

Wall Street fell in choppy trading on Wednesday after a strong rebound in the previous session as optimism about an imminent $2 trillion coronavirus package waned, with investors still concerned about the lasting economic hit from the pandemic.

Citigroup Inc said on Tuesday it will temporarily shutter up to 15% of its U.S. branches amid the coronavirus outbreak.

(This March 24 story corrects the description of Chris Fred's previous role at Goldman Sachs)

Oil prices fell on Wednesday as faltering fuel demand because of the coronavirus pandemic outweighed a massive pending U.S. economic stimulus package.

Global oil demand could fall by as much as 4.9 million barrels per day (bpd), or by about 4.9%, in 2020 due to the coronavirus outbreak, Norway's biggest independent energy consultancy Rystad Energy said on Wednesday.

Occidental Petroleum Corp on Wednesday unveiled a new round of deep spending cuts, slashing budget for a second time this month and sharply reducing salaries, as the debt-laden U.S. oil producer tries to save cash amid tumbling energy prices.

The havoc wrought by the coronavirus crisis could give investors leverage to put new limits on CEO pay packages and link them more closely to a range of social and environmental issues at companies' annual meetings this spring.

As many as 46 million people in the U.S. may be left jobless in the short term as companies shut down services that have "high contact" with the public during the battle against the coronavirus epidemic, St. Louis Federal Reserve president James Bullard said on Wednesday.

As independent contractors, U.S. ride-hail drivers for Uber and Lyft benefited from soaring trip demand and flexible work hours.