Nasdaq News

World stocks turned negative on Wednesday as the coronavirus death toll mounted and euro zone finance minister failed to agree a rescue package to help economies recover from the impact of the outbreak.

Europe's largest economy probably shrank by 9.8% in the second quarter, its biggest decline since records began in 1970, due to the lockdown measures imposed to help slow the spread of the coronavirus, Germany's leading institutes said on Wednesday.

Britain's BAE Systems is looking to raise $1.3 billion in debt to fund its pension deficit and repay related loans, the company said on Wednesday, as it prepares to deal with the fallout of the coronavirus outbreak.

The average price of Swedish homes fell 1 percent in the three months to the end of March from the previous three-month period, the statistics office (SCB) said on Wednesday.

The European Central Bank told euro zone finance ministers that the euro zone could need fiscal measures worth to 1.5 trillion euros this year to tackle the economic crisis caused by the COVID-19 epidemic, officials told Reuters.

China's new bank loans are expected to have rebounded in March from a sharp drop the previous month, a Reuters poll showed, as policymakers continue to urge lenders to help cash-strapped companies hit hard by the coronavirus crisis.

China's steel companies are banking on rising demand in 2020 for high-end, and higher priced, specialty metal products for use in new infrastructure projects to revive an economy that was already slowing before the recent coronavirus outbreak.

Europe's largest economy probably shrank by 9.8% in the second quarter, its biggest decline since records began in 1970 and more than double the decline seen during the global financial crisis in 2009, Germany's leading institutes said on Wednesday.

Chinese shares pulled back on Wednesday after a doubling of new coronavirus infections in mainland China highlighted continued risks posed by the pandemic, even as Wuhan, the Chinese city at the heart of the outbreak, ended its lockdown.

Round-up of South Korean financial markets:

Metal traders are betting China will soon reduce the value-added tax (VAT) on its manufacturing sector for the third year in a row, placing trades that will see them cash in if a cut is confirmed, three traders said this week.

The number of cases of the new coronavirus in the Czech Republic has risen past 5,000, although a slowing growth rate has given the government confidence to start easing some lockdown measures that have hit the economy.

Britain will have a new coronavirus testing facility capable of carrying out 30,000 tests per day by early May, said the chief executive of pharma company AstraZeneca, helping the government meet an ambitious goal to scale up testing.

Iran's President Hassan Rouhani said on Wednesday the International Monetary Fund would be guilty of "discriminatory behaviour" unless it provides $5 billion in emergency funding to help Tehran fight the coronavirus outbreak.

(RTTNews) - Specialty pharmaceutical company Indivior Plc (INDV.L) Wednesday said its first-quarter performance was in line with expectations. The company further said it is withdrawing its previously issued fiscal 2020 guidance amid the uncertainty related to the impacts from t

Swedish household consumption rose 0.4 percent in February from the previous month, the statistics office (SCB) said on Wednesday. The change compared with a revised decrease of 0.3 percent in January. Consumption rose by 2.3 percent in volume and working day adjusted figures in February from a year earlier. (Reporting by Stockholm Newsroom) ((stockholm.newsroom@thomsonreuters.com)(+4687001017)) nAPN0DOUBK

British drugmaker Indivior PLC withdrew its annual financial forecast on Wednesday, citing uncertainties due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Japan will next week pledge to contribute to an International Monetary Fund (IMF) trust offering debt relief to low-income countries hit hard by the coronavirus, a finance ministry official told Reuters on Wednesday.

(RTTNews) - Heineken N.V. (HKHHF.PK) said, for the first quarter of 2020, the company expects to announce a total consolidated volume decrease of around 4% organically with beer volume decline around 2%. The impact is expected to worsen in the second quarter, the company noted.

(RTTNews) - Swiss drug maker Roche Group (RHHBY) announced Wednesday that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has extended the review time for risdiplam for the treatment of spinal muscular atrophy or SMA.