Reuters Business News

British Airways warned of job losses and Norwegian Air said it had "weeks not months" to avert collapse, as airlines look for cost cuts and government help in the face of a crippling travel slump brought on by the coronavirus.

Stocks across the globe bounced back on Friday but hopes of more central bank stimulus and government spending went only so far and indexes were set to post large weekly drops after days of pandemic-related panic-selling across markets.

United Airlines confirmed Friday it is in talks with U.S. government officials about possible financial assistance in the middle of a dramatic falloff in travel demand due to the coronavirus outbreak.

Poland will ban foreigners from entering the country from Sunday and impose a 14-day quarantine on its citizens returning home in a bid to curb the spread of coronavirus, Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said on Friday.

Azerbaijan has banned wedding celebrations and other public events, the authorities said on Friday, a day after it recorded its first death from the coronavirus.

This month's dramatic selloff in financial markets is causing ructions in vital funding markets that keep money flowing between banks and companies and underpin anything from global trade to corporate cashflow.

The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Germany has risen by 671 to reach 3,062, the Robert Koch Institute for infectious diseases said on Friday.

Saudi Arabia detected on Friday new 24 cases of coronavirus, including 14 Egyptians, state news agency (SPA) said citing the health ministry.

Wall Street clawed back losses on Friday from its biggest declines in three decades, as investors bet on more fiscal stimulus to thwart a coronavirus-driven global recession.

As virus-wary shoppers stayed home in the United States and Europe, apparel retailers braced for a blow to sales and a potential inventory glut. Some slashed orders at garment factories while others began discounting merchandise.

Montenegro barred public gatherings, closed schools for at least two weeks and adopted an array of other measures on Friday, including a ban on arrivals of ships at its Adriatic ports, in an effort to pre-empt the onset of the coronavirus outbreak.

The main plant of Volkswagen AG's Spanish unit Seat in Martorell near Barcelona will stop output on Monday for an unspecified time due to logistical problems linked to the coronavirus epidemic, a company spokesman said on Friday.

U.S. carrier AT&T Inc on Friday asked its employees to work from home amid rising fears of the coronavirus, joining a list of tech majors working to curb the spread.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's wife, Australia's minister for home affairs and a Chelsea soccer player are among new cases of the coronavirus that has infected almost 135,000 people and killed more than 4,900 worldwide.

Oil prices were on track for their worst week since the 2008 global financial crisis after the coronavirus outbreak rocked the world economy while top exporter Saudi Arabia and its allies stepped up plans to flood the market with record levels of supply.

Several Renault-Nissan plants in Spain halted production temporarily on Friday or were planning stoppages next week due to a lack of parts amid the coronavirus epidemic, company officials said.

The U.S. Federal Reserve is talking with lenders about potentially going easy on them if they deplete their liquidity reserves while trying to support customers hurt by coronavirus disruption, according to three people with knowledge of the discussions.

The Federal Communications Commission said Friday that major internet providers - including Comcast Corp, AT&T Inc and Verizon Communications Inc - agreed not to terminate service for subscribers for the next 60 days if they are unable to pay their bills due to disruptions caused by the coronavirus.

German flagship carrier Lufthansa said on Friday it is planning to request state aid from several European governments to weather the fallout from the coronavirus outbreak.

Apple Inc on Friday moved its annual developers conference in San Jose, California, in June entirely online, citing the "current health situation."