This archive report was first published on 17 June 2020.
On Tuesday, US stock markets closed on a positive note, driven by comments from Federal Reserve boss Jerome Powell that the economy was entering a recovery period. Powell cited recent jobs reports and retail sales data, predicting that the unemployment rate would drop significantly as more people return to work, with figures staying well below February levels.
The Dow Jones rose 2.04%, the Nasdaq 100 went up 1.76%, and the S&P 500 was up 1.90% at the end of the trading session.
However, energy markets fell on Wednesday following news that crude stockpiles rose in the week ending June 10. According to Bloomberg, data from the American Petroleum Institute (API) showed that crude stocks rose by 3.9 million barrels last week, marking the second consecutive weekly growth.
Beijing has taken drastic measures to combat the COVID-19 pandemic, halting about 70% of flights to and from Beijing Capital International Airport. The decision was made after finding infection clusters in Beijing, with a total of 1,255 flights affected.
Automaker Tesla has signed an agreement with Japanese electronics company Panasonic to manufacture and supply lithium-ion battery cells at its Gigafactory in Nevada. The deal, which took effect on April 1, 2020, will see the two companies work together for the next three years.
Hotel chain Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. will cut approximately 2,100 corporate jobs, a 22% reduction of its corporate workforce, in a bid to reduce costs amid plummeting demand caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
Swedish vehicle and construction equipment manufacturer Volvo Group will cut its workforce by 4,100 white-collar workers by the end of 2020 to counteract the negative effects of the crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Saudi Aramco has confirmed the acquisition of 70% of shares in Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC) from the Public Investment Fund at $69.1 billion and $5.9 billion in vendor loan charges to the PIF.
Facebook plans to give its users an option to turn off political ads on its platforms, creating the Voting Information Center to provide social network users with authoritative information on voting and voter registration.
SoftBank is planning to sell about two-thirds of its stake in T-Mobile US in a deal worth around $20 billion, with Deutsche Telekom expected to purchase the stake to maintain control over its subsidiary.
