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U.S. stock indexes fell sharply on Thursday as the swift spread of the coronavirus in the United States led California to declare an emergency, while airline stocks were hammered by crippled travel demand.

Two years into an ambitious growth plan to revive earnings at the largest U.S. oil company, Exxon Mobil Corp said on Thursday it would stick to its plans to "lean in" to spending even as its shares have lagged those of competitors, which are cutting costs.

Airbus is battling to shore up support for its A330neo wide-body passenger jet as the coronavirus crisis, geopolitics and trade wars raise fresh questions over demand for the aircraft, industry sources said.

Britain's Flybe collapsed on Thursday after a plunge in travel demand, making the long-struggling regional airline one of the first big corporate casualties of the coronavirus outbreak.

AT&T Inc has partnered with Alphabet Inc's Google Cloud to use 5G edge computing technologies to help clients improve speed and increase security by running applications closer to end users.

Global equity markets tumbled and the dollar slid on Thursday as the number of coronavirus cases outside China mounted rapidly, leading California to declare an emergency and HSBC in London to send more than 100 staff home.

Oil prices edged lower on Thursday as the coronavirus epidemic showed no signs of slowing, with deaths mounting globally, but losses were limited as major producers agreed on deeper output cuts to bolster prices.

The coronavirus epidemic could rob passenger airlines of up to $113 billion in revenue this year, an industry body warned on Thursday, more than three times a projection it made just two weeks ago as the virus continues to spread around the world.

Walmart Inc's Flipkart faces a further anti-trust probe in India after an appellate tribunal asked the competition watchdog to investigate whether the company had abused its dominant position in e-commerce.

Airlines have been suspending flights or modifying services in response to the coronavirus outbreak.

Russia is fiscally prepared to cope with a drop in oil prices, Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said on Thursday, as OPEC tries to convince Moscow to support the market with a deeper output cut in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak.

U.S. supermarket chain Kroger Co topped fourth-quarter profit and sales estimates on Thursday, boosted by strong demand for its high-margin private-label brands, sending its shares up as much as 7.2%.

Two years into an ambitious growth plan to revive earnings at the largest U.S. oil company, Exxon Mobil Corp said on Thursday it would stick to its plans to "lean in" to spending even as its shares have lagged those of competitors, which are cutting costs.

Amazon.com Inc and Facebook Inc on Thursday joined Microsoft Corp in recommending employees in the Seattle area to work from home after several people in the region were infected with the coronavirus.

Portugal's flag carrier TAP cancelled a total of around 1,000 flights this month and next due to a fall in demand over concerns about the spreading coronavirus, the company said on Thursday, also envisaging an unspecified impact on revenues.

Bank of Canada Governor Stephen Poloz looks ready to end his term where he began, setting interest rates near historic lows to support the broader economy at the risk of stoking higher prices in a housing market that is heating up.

Russia's state carrier Aeroflot said on Thursday it would suspend its flights to and from Hong Kong amid fears over coronavirus.

((This March 4 story corrects attribution of survey cited in paragraph nine to Prudential Financial))

Diversified manufacturer 3M Co has avoided major supply chain disruptions from the coronavirus outbreak by sourcing materials for its protective face masks from regional suppliers instead of far-flung locations, a company official told Reuters.

Kazakhstan's Energy Minister Nurlan Nogayev said on Thursday that OPEC and non-OPEC oil exporters have not yet reached consensus on the parameters of an extension on their oil output deal, the TASS news agency reported.