Reuters Business News

Monday's trial over shareholder accusations that Telsa Inc Chief Executive Elon Musk pushed the electric vehicle maker to buy an allegedly worthless SolarCity for $2.2 billion to benefit himself has postponed without a new date being set, a spokesman at Delaware's Court of Chancery said on Friday.

SoftBank Group Corp is buying back up to $4.8 billion of its shares after their recent slump, a move that partially met the demand of activist fund Elliott Management but failed to soothe investors panicking from the coronavirus pandemic.

The Trump administration is not considering broad relief from import tariffs on Chinese goods to ease economic pain from the coronavirus, U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said on Friday, dashing the hopes of industry and some lawmakers.

U.S. consumer sentiment fell less than expected in early March as households responded to the coronavirus pandemic and a sharp stock market sell-off, but also hoped that any disruptions to economic activity would be temporary.

Security forces will empty the streets of cities across Iran in the next 24 hours in a drive to fight the spread of the new coronavirus, state television reported on Friday.

British Airways warned that its survival was at stake on Friday as its CEO told staff of plans to cut jobs and ground aircraft to tackle the "worsening situation" caused by coronavirus.

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

A rebound on Wall Street on Friday fizzled out following reports that President Donald Trump was set to declare a national emergency to tackle the rapidly spreading coronavirus outbreak.

Activist investor Elliott Management said on Friday it supports SoftBank Group Corp's latest move to buy back up to $4.8 billion of its shares.

Stocks across the globe bounced back on Friday after historic drops, but hopes of more central bank stimulus and government spending went only so far and the comeback lost steam in a week of pandemic panic-selling across markets.

U.S. stock indexes erased early gains to trade just above 1% shortly after a report said President Donald Trump will declare a national emergency over the coronavirus pandemic.

The European Union has cleared United Technologies Corporation's (UTC) planned acquisition of Raytheon , subject to conditions, the European Commission said on Friday.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued emergency authorization for a faster coronavirus test made by Swiss diagnostics maker Roche and allowed New York state to authorize certain labs to test for the virus, moves aimed at boosting screening capacity to help contain the growing epidemic.

Romanian President Klaus Iohannis asked quarantined interim Prime Minister Ludovic Orban to form a new government on Friday that parliament could approve as early as Saturday, ending a political stalemate and focusing on the coronavirus crisis.

Recent blowouts in dollar swap prices are a sign economic lockdowns across the world are starting to pressure business cashflows, forcing companies to look elsewhere for greenbacks to pay suppliers and creditors.

The head of British Airways said coronavirus was causing an unprecedented crisis, warning that aircraft would be parked like never before and staff laid off, in a hard-hitting staff message to address "the worsening situation".

Warren Buffett on Friday said the coronavirus pandemic forced him to cancel Berkshire Hathaway Inc's annual shareholder weekend, the largest gathering in corporate America, because the safety of participants and the wider community was paramount.

The dollar advanced on Friday, posting sharp gains against the safe-haven yen as stock markets recovered globally and investors cheered efforts made by governments and policymakers to address the economic fallout from the coronavirus outbreak.

Bulgaria closed schools and restricted travel to 14 countries on Friday to contain the spread of coronavirus after the number of confirmed cases in the Balkan country more than tripled to 23 over one day.

U.S. import prices fell by the most in six months in February as the cost of petroleum products dropped, and economists said they could decline further because of the coronavirus pandemic and an oil price war between Saudi Arabia and Russia.