FT News Briefing

Amazon has pitched itself as an essential business to provide those sheltering in place with needed products. The FT’s Dave Lee reports on how the e-commerce group could emerge as a hero if deliveries remain on track, but only if it does so without pushing employees to take excessive health risks. Meanwhile, insurers are tightening the terms of their business coverage to make sure anything related...

Manufacturers are working to produce the ventilators needed to help severely ill coronavirus patients breathe. The question is whether those inexperienced in the field can overcome the logistical and regulatory hurdles in time to deliver the life-saving machines. Plus, US companies have questions about how to access the $454bn of government funds set aside in the $2tn stimulus legislation, and Ita...

US stocks were up for a third straight day after the Senate agreed to a $2.2tn stimulus package Wednesday. The bill comes as a report on Thursday showed that a record 3.3m Americans filed for unemployment last week from the coronavirus shutdown. Plus, the European Central Bank is giving itself a tremendous amount of flexibility in its plan to buy €750bn in additional bonds to contain the fallout f...

The US Senate has approved fiscal stimulus legislation worth $2tn after a week of intense negotiations, Ford suffers the biggest credit rating downgrade since 2005, and the FT’s James Kynge tells us how China could become an example of growth while the rest of the world deals with the coronavirus crisis. Plus, the US has raised the pressure on Saudi Arabia to end its oil price war with Russia as t...

As traditional capital markets seize up, businesses are turning to emergency sources of funding. An FT analysis shows that more than 130 companies drew at least $124bn from their lenders in the past three weeks. Plus, Europe is facing a dilemma over whether to allow certain businesses to operate or shut the economy entirely to slow the spread of the coronavirus, and SoftBank explored an attempt to...

The Federal Reserve announced a plan to buy corporate debt and unlimited amounts of government debt on Monday. But investors on Wall Street continue to wait for fiscal stimulus from the US government.  Plus, The FT’s global business columnist, Rana Foroohar, argues that, when a bailout plan is agreed, small businesses and individuals should be first in line for the help. Hosted on Acast. See...

US lawmakers argue over a fiscal stimulus legislation worth nearly $2tn to help America weather the coronavirus pandemic. Plus, it could be weeks before official data reveals the full impact of the outbreak on the global economy. FT data journalists have compiled a set of alternative measures of economic activity, from restaurant bookings to traffic patterns, to give an early indication of what to...

Republicans in the US Senate have introduced legislation to inject more than $1tn of fiscal stimulus into the economy as it grapples with the coronavirus outbreak. Sir Paul Tucker, the former deputy governor of the Bank of England and current chair of the Systemic Risk Council, says it’s time for policymakers and bankers to prepare for a wartime setting if conditions deteriorate. Plus, the only US...

The European Central Bank will buy an additional €750bn in bonds in response to the economic and financial upheaval caused by the coronavirus pandemic. Gillian Tett and Anjli Raval explain the dramatic market swings in markets that preceded the ECB’s emergency move. Plus, we will look at the bottlenecks in the healthcare supply chain as demand grows for testing and critical care equipment. Hosted...

Western governments pledged trillions of dollars in stimulus measures to limit the economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic on Tuesday. The FT’s global business columnist Rana Foroohar explains what it could mean for Wall Street and Main Street. Plus, Impossible Foods raises $500m in a round that will help the US-plant based burger group to see through the economic upheaval caused by the cur...

Governments in all large western economies took drastic measures to limit public movement on Monday in an urgent effort to arrest the spreading coronavirus pandemic while US stocks plunged despite a set of emergency measures laid out by the Federal Reserve on Sunday. Plus, an analysis by the Financial Times finds that the UK and the US have key weaknesses in their healthcare systems which could tr...

The Federal Reserve cut interest rates to zero and joined forces with other central banks in a bid to prevent a severe economic downturn caused by the coronavirus outbreak. The FT’s Gillian Tett unpacks the sweeping measures. Plus, the rapid spread of the coronavirus and the ensuing travel restrictions have led to one of the worst months on record for the airport industry, and French industrials g...

US stocks fell almost 10 per cent in their worst day since the 1987 market crash despite emergency action by the Federal Reserve. Meanwhile, following the US ban on travellers from Europe, airlines are demanding immediate government action to alleviate the industry’s deepening crisis. Plus, companies took on vast amounts of debt in the era of low interest rates. The FT’s US business editor, Andrew...

The Trump administration will suspend non-US citizens travelling from Europe for the next 30 days to reduce the spread of the coronavirus in America. This announcement came on the same day the World Health Organization labelled the coronavirus outbreak a pandemic for the first time, and the blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average tipped into bear market territory. Plus, Boeing lost close to a fifth...

Joe Biden cemented his lead as the frontrunner in the Democratic presidential race, winning several states including the battleground of Michigan. Plus, airlines cancel flights, withdraw earnings guidance and implement austerity measures to cope with the travel slump caused by the coronavirus outbreak, and the head of the International Energy Agency warns Russia and Saudi Arabia risk hurting effor...

A crash in the price of oil rocked financial markets that were already reeling from the effects of the coronavirus. Meanwhile, Italy extended its quarantine to the entire country, two of the world’s largest medical research foundations are teaming up with a Mastercard-backed charity to commit $125m in “seed funding” to develop treatments for Covid-19, and US president Donald Trump says his adminis...

Saudi Arabia has launched an aggressive oil price war after Russia refused to join production cuts with Opec, Italy locks down a huge swath of its wealthy northern area that is home to 16m people in order to contain the spread of coronavirus, and Citigroup confirmed that it is severing nearly two-thirds of the platforms it uses for currency trading as part of an effort to cut costs. Plus, Turkey i...

US stocks dropped as Treasury yields touched records lows on Thursday and bank share price falls led the way, struggling Chinese ride-hailing group Didi Chuxing is suffering a further blow due to the coronavirus, and ExxonMobil says it will avoid a “beauty match” on carbon emissions as rivals set out targets. Plus, the world’s biggest oil traders slashed global demand forecasts with growth falling...

US stocks recovered more than 4 per cent on Wednesday, a day after the Federal Reserve cut interest rates by 50 basis points and spooked investors, Rupert Murdoch’s youngest son, James, is making a seven-figure investment in start-ups aimed at combating fake news, and the US is ready to invest $5bn in Ethiopia in an effort to counter China’s influence in one of Africa’s fastest-growing economies....

Joe Biden emerged as a major contender in Super Tuesday voting, despite Bernie Sanders winning in California. Meanwhile, the Federal Reserve failed to ease recession fears on Tuesday when it made an emergency interest rate cut. The FT’s Gillian Tett explains why. Plus, Tesla short sellers have reaped $2.8bn as US stocks tumbled, and Airbus is reviewing its 2020 delivery targets as the global sprea...

US stocks ended a seven-day losing streak on Monday on expectations that central banks will soften the economic impact of the coronavirus outbreak and driverless car company Waymo raises $2.3bn from a group of outside investors. Plus, the FT’s George Parker explains the expectations of both the United Kingdom and the European Union as their trade talks begin.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/p...

Disruptions caused by the coronavirus are driving the global economy closer to a recession and triggering calls for fiscal and monetary intervention, activist hedge fund Elliott Management is pushing for big changes at Twitter after taking a $1bn stake, and the US state of Wyoming is in talks to buy millions of acres of land from Occidental Petroleum. Plus, if Bernie Sanders is elected US presiden...

US equities closed in correction territory on Thursday on coronavirus concerns, while Saudi Arabia is asking its Opec allies to agree to a substantial cut in oil production to deal with crippling demand. Plus, a report from Beijing on how China is trying to get its factories back to work, and the FT’s Gillian Tett unpacks how the outbreak is affecting the global economy.   Hosted on Acas...

Donald Trump sought to defuse criticism of his handling of the coronavirus and predicted stock markets would be booming again, while investors are betting that central banks will respond to the financial fallout from the outbreak with stimulus, and Microsoft has warned that supply chain disruption due to the virus will cause the company to miss its revenue guidance for its Windows and Surface prod...

A fresh wave of selling pressure rippled across global markets on Tuesday as public health officials warned Americans to prepare for the spread of the coronavirus, Bob Iger has stepped down as chief executive of Walt Disney a year after extending his contract, and Virgin Galactic shares fall after the space tourism company reports that losses widened in the fourth quarter. Plus, there has been a w...