Friday Morning Briefing: Coronavirus crash wipes $5 trillion off world stocks

Markets

Coronavirus panic sent world share markets crashing again, compounding their worst week since the 2008 global financial crisis and bringing the wipeout in value terms to $5 trillion. Countries on three continents reported their first cases of the coronavirus as the world prepared for a pandemic and investors dumped equities in expectation of a global recession. Hopes that the epidemic that started in China would be over in months, and that economic activity would quickly return to normal have been shattered this week as the number of international cases have spiraled.

Trump’s administration is considering invoking special powers through a law called the Defense Production Act to rapidly expand domestic manufacturing of protective masks and clothing to combat the coronavirus in the United States, two U.S. officials told Reuters. Investment-advisors are increasingly worried that U.S. authorities are not be doing enough to prevent a widespread outbreak of coronavirus in the country, potentially adding further downside to already-battered markets.

U.S.

Republican activists in South Carolina are urging party voters to do the seemingly unthinkable: support U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders’ bid for the White House in the state’s Democratic primary on Saturday. South Carolina voters do not register by party and are allowed to vote in either party’s contest. Here's how the Democratic nominating battle could end in a messy "brokered convention."

Police in Milwaukee identified the five brewery employees shot and killed by a co-worker who later took his own life in the latest spasm of gun violence plaguing U.S. workplaces and schools. The motive for the carnage was unclear a day after the shooting at the landmark Molson Coors Beverage Co complex shook Wisconsin’s largest city.

California’s utilities regulator has proposed an increased $2.14 billion fine on PG&E for its role in causing the devastating 2017 and 2018 wildfires in Northern California. The decision raises the penalty by $462 million and would be the largest ever imposed, the California Public Utilities Commission said.

World

Turkey will no longer stop Syrian refugees from reaching Europe, a senior Turkish official said, as Ankara responded to the killing of 33 Turkish soldiers in an air strike by Syrian government forces in Syria’s northwestern Idlib region.

Indian police have arrested 514 people for deadly Hindu-Muslim violence that broke out in the capital, the government said, as it faced mounting international criticism for failing to protect minority Muslims. Police are still searching drains and homes that were burnt down for bodies, officers said.

Angry Japanese parents joined bewildered teachers and businesses in a rush to find new ways to live and work for a month after Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s shock call for all schools to close in a bid to stop coronavirus spreading. Japan’s northernmost prefecture of Hokkaido declared a state of emergency as the number of coronavirus cases rose, asking residents to stay indoors over the weekend.

Uncertainty grew over the political future of Malaysia and the man who has dominated it for decades as the royal palace rejected Mahathir Mohamad’s plan for a vote to choose a new prime minister. Meanwhile, Mahathir’s party chose a different candidate for prime minister four days after the 94-year-old’s resignation from the position plunged the Southeast Asian country into turmoil.

Greta Thunberg, the teenage activist who has reprimanded governments across the world for failing her generation with climate change, is expected to draw a crowd of thousands when she leads a protest in Britain. She will address a “Youth Strike for Climate” rally in the English city of Bristol, though police issued a safety warning due to the number of people expected to attend.

Autos

Geneva car show axed as Swiss ban large events to fight virus

Switzerland banned large events expected to draw more than 1,000 people as an extraordinary measure to curb the new coronavirus epidemic, forcing cancellation of the Geneva car show next week.

3 min read

Powered by hydrogen, Hyundai's trucks aim to conquer the Swiss Alps

Hyundai’s hydrogen-powered 18-tonne trucks are set to hit the roads in Switzerland next month as the South Korean automaker looks to establish a case for its zero-emissions technology in a low carbon world.

7 min read

Volkswagen reaches deal with consumer group over diesel scandal

Volkswagen and a major German consumer group have reached an agreement in a class action lawsuit over the carmaker’s rigging of diesel emissions tests, a court in the northern city of Brunswick said.

2 min read

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