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Zoom Video Communications Inc has tapped former Facebook security chief Alex Stamos as an adviser to improve the privacy and security of its rapidly growing video-conferencing app amid a global backlash, including a move by Alphabet Inc's Google to ban the desktop version of Zoom from corporate laptops.

U.S. stock markets surged on Wednesday as investors were encouraged by hopeful signs about the coronavirus outbreak in the United States, with health insurers getting an additional boost from the announcement that Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders was suspending his campaign.

The U.S. Health and Human Services Department (HHS) on Wednesday awarded two contracts worth more than $1 billion to make ventilators needed to treat severely sick coronavirus patients and plans to announce five additional contracts later this week.

World equity markets surged and oil prices jumped on Wednesday on hopes the coronavirus pandemic is getting close to peaking and that more government stimulus measures could be on the way.

The U.S. dollar gained on Wednesday in choppy trading as some optimism faded that the coronavirus crisis may be nearing a peak faded and as investor concerns remained over the economic fallout of the pandemic.

Home rental company Airbnb has projected its revenue can fall about 54% to some $2.2 billion this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, The Information reported on Wednesday, citing people familiar with the matter.

Alphabet Inc's Google on Wednesday banned Zoom video conferencing application from its employees' laptops, citing security concerns.

The White House hopes Congress will nearly double the size of its program to support ailing small businesses by the end of the week, as some of the nation's largest lenders still sit on the sidelines and others remain unable to access the system.

The Trump administration on Tuesday asked Congress for an additional $250 billion in emergency economic aid for small U.S. businesses reeling from the coronavirus pandemic, as Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell pushed for passage as soon as Thursday.

Nasdaq Inc is hopeful initial public offerings will pick up in the second half of 2020, but much depends on how well companies and investors emerge from the coronavirus pandemic, the head of the exchange operator said on Wednesday.

Lufthansa will seek state aid in Germany, Switzerland, Belgium and Austria as the coronavirus crisis that forced it to ground almost all of its planes will persist longer than feared, the German airline's chief executive said.

Investors are betting on stocks to remain volatile well into the year, suggesting that many expect the long-term economic and public health impact of the pandemic caused by the novel coronavirus to continue roiling markets despite a recent rally.

World equity markets moved higher and oil prices stabilized on Wednesday on hopes the coronavirus pandemic is getting close to peaking and that more government stimulus measures could be on the way.

Zoom Video Communications Inc has tapped former Facebook security chief Alex Stamos as an adviser and set up an advisory board to improve the privacy and security of its rapidly growing video-conferencing app amid a global backlash.

The U.S. government's massive effort to nurse the economy through the coronavirus crisis was billed as a send-money-and-don't-sweat-the-details flood of cash to people and businesses in a $22 trillion system that has ground to a halt.

U.S. investment bank Centerview has hired Lazard's former France boss, Matthieu Pigasse, to lead its newly-launched Paris office and win business from European companies grappling with the economic damage caused by the coronavirus outbreak.

Airbus production cuts announced on Wednesday in response to the coronavirus crisis are likely to be in place for "some months" and then reviewed as the market outlook becomes clearer, Chief Executive Guillaume Faury said on Wednesday.

The economic downturn from the coronavirus outbreak in the United States will be deep and any recovery will depend on consumers feeling safe enough to start spending again, Richmond Federal Reserve Bank President Thomas Barkin said on Wednesday.

U.S. stock markets rose on Wednesday on hopes the coronavirus outbreak in the United States was close to its peak, with health insurers boosted by Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders suspending his campaign.

Crude prices edged up on Wednesday, buoyed by hopes that OPEC and its allies will strike a production cut agreement, but surging U.S. crude inventories muted the gains.