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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.

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

China has suspended sale, import and use of Bristol-Myers Squibb Co's cancer drug, Abraxane, the U.S. drugmaker's China marketing partner said on Wednesday.

Nike Inc shares rose 8% on Wednesday after the sportswear maker's impressive recovery in China sales offered hope that it was prepared to cope with the financial fallout of the coronavirus pandemic in other markets.

Britain is continuing talks with the aviation industry about how best to support the sector, Prime Minister Boris Johnson and a pilots' union said on Wednesday, reviving the prospect of a sector-specific support package that had seemed to be on hold.

U.S. airlines would receive direct grants and would not be able to lay off employees for a set time under the coronavirus relief legislation agreed to by the U.S. Senate on Wednesday, according to a CNBC report.

Wall Street on Wednesday extended its massive bounce from the previous session as Washington reached a deal for a $2 trillion stimulus package to help businesses and millions of Americans hit by the economic fallout of the coronavirus pandemic.

Occidental Petroleum Corp said on Wednesday it would add to its board three of activist investor Carl Icahn's associates, ending a long and bitter fight that began after its ill-timed acquisition of rival Anadarko Petroleum.