Oil ends lower after U.S. crude stockpiles jump, gasoline demand sinks
Oil prices fell on Wednesday after U.S. crude inventories rose last week by the most since 2016, while gasoline demand suffered its biggest weekly drop ever due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Wall Street’s major indexes slammed as virus anxiety grows
The key S&P 500 index was down more than 4% on Wednesday after a dire warning on the U.S. death toll from the coronavirus and heightened nerves over the upcoming earnings reporting season sent investors running from even the most defensive equities.
Amazon warehouse workers protest near Detroit, days after NYC walkout
Amazon.com Inc said on Wednesday a handful of workers staged a demonstration at one of its warehouses near Detroit, another U.S. protest this week over staff concerns about contracting the novel coronavirus on the job.
Trump invites oil CEOs to discuss help for ailing industry: source
U.S. President Donald Trump has invited oil executives to the White House to discuss potential aid for the industry as the coronavirus pandemic spurs a historic slump in energy prices, a source familiar with the matter said on Wednesday.
Putin calls for action on ‘challenging’ energy market, Trump laments cheap oil
Russian President Vladimir Putin called on Wednesday for global oil producers and consumers to address “challenging” oil markets while U.S. President Donald Trump complained that oil cheaper “than water” was hurting the industry.
U.S. shale company Whiting becomes first major bankruptcy of oil-price crash
Whiting Petroleum Corp filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, the U.S. shale producer said on Wednesday, the first publicly traded casualty of crashing crude oil prices that are expected to bite into record U.S. output.
Fed’s Rosengren says unemployment rate could ‘rise dramatically’
Boston Federal Reserve Bank President Eric Rosengren said social distancing efforts meant to contain the coronavirus outbreak have “stilled” the economy and could lead the unemployment rate to “rise dramatically.”
U.S. dollar rises as global slump looms
The dollar advanced on Wednesday, with markets staring at what looked likely to be one of the worst economic contractions in decades as the world confronts the coronavirus pandemic.
EU industry chief sees no quid pro quo in Huawei’s ‘mask diplomacy’
EU industry chief Thierry Breton on Wednesday said he did not see any ulterior motive behind Huawei’s donations of face masks to the bloc and that solidarity was the best way to tackle the global coronavirus outbreak.
Zoom takes lead over Microsoft Teams as virus keeps Americans at home: Apptopia
Zoom Video Communications Inc’s average mobile user numbers in March were nearly three times that of its nearest rival Microsoft Corp’s Teams, according to research firm Apptopia, as the cornonavirus-driven stay-at-home lifted demand for video confer…
