Bloomberg Japanese merchants said they’re facing the toughest economic environment since the global financial crisis as the country braces for the full impact of the spreading coronavirus. Store managers, barbers, taxi drivers and others who deal directly with Japanese consumers haven’t been this pessimistic about their prospects since 2009, according to a Cabinet Office survey on Monday. An index measuring ...

Bloomberg Apple Inc’s iPhone shipments plunged more than 60% last month, according to official Chinese data, as the coronavirus forced the US technology giant to close stores in the world’s largest smartphone market. Shipments dropped to about 494,600 units from year-earlier levels, according to Bloomberg calculations based on monthly data from the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology, a ...

Bloomberg The plunge in international oil prices has a potential upside for South Africa’s debt-stricken state power utility. Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd can’t generate enough power from its coal-fired power stations to meet demand, and burnt through diesel worth 6.5 billion rand ($407 million) at its open-cycle gas turbines in its last financial year to try and avert or limit ...