 | | | | The S&P 500 rallied for a second straight session on Wednesday as the U.S. Senate appeared near a vote on a $2 trillion package to support businesses and households devastated by the coronavirus pandemic. | | | | | | Canadian oil and gas companies are urging Ottawa to free up credit and cash to help them survive the twin shocks of COVID-19 spread and a crude price war, pitching ideas ranging from tax deferrals to backstopping bank loans. | | | | | | Amazon.com Inc on Wednesday said it temporarily would not require sellers in its marketplace to repay loans it had made to them, as merchants confront the prospect of declining sales during the coronavirus pandemic. | | | | | | The dollar slid and global equity markets marched higher on Wednesday for a second day of gains, on optimism $2 trillion in U.S. fiscal stimulus will dampen the economic shock the coronavirus pandemic has started to inflict.U.S. senators will vote Wednesday. Top aides to Republican President Donald Trump and senior Republican and Democrat senators agreed on the unprecedented bill after five days of marathon talks. | | | | | | U.S. crude prices settled higher on Wednesday, bolstered by progress on a massive pending U.S. economic stimulus package, even as government data showed the coronavirus pandemic started undercutting U.S. fuel demand last week. | | | | | | A group representing major United States semiconductor companies on Wednesday said it was working with federal officials to make clear to state and local officials overseeing lockdowns that chip companies are essential businesses that should continue operations. | | | | | | The U.S. Senate will vote on Wednesday to give the U.S. aviation industry $58 billion in aid, half in the form of grants to cover some 750,000 employees' paychecks, in a badly needed lifeline for an industry facing the worst travel downturn in history. | | | | | | Qantas Airways Ltd on Wednesday secured A$1.05 billion ($627.8 million) against its aircraft fleet to help it ride out the coronavirus crisis, sending its shares soaring, as airlines in the Asia-Pacific region sliced away capacity and jobs. | | | | | | Target Corp said on Wednesday it saw a more than 50% rise in same-store sales so far in March for certain essential goods, joining a list of grocery chains benefiting from consumers hunkering down for an extended period due to the coronavirus outbreak. | | | | | | Vehicle sales in U.S. states that implemented lockdown orders to curb the spread of coronavirus will drop 80% or more, analysts said on Wednesday. | | | | | | Investment banks are dusting off models from the 2008 financial crisis to gauge the right time to buy back into stock markets that have plunged 30% from their February record highs because of the coronvirus crisis. | | | | | |
