Bloomberg The World Health Organisation (WHO) declared the coronavirus outbreak a pandemic, saying cases outside China have risen 13-fold. The US’s top infectious-disease specialist told lawmakers the pathogen is 10 times more deadly than the seasonal flu. Britain announced a $39 billion stimulus package, hours after the Bank of England cut interest rates. German Chancellor Angela Merkel pledged to do “whatever …

Bloomberg Los Angeles is aiming to become the first city in the nation to use renewable hydrogen to produce electricity, with the goal of ending the use of carbon-based natural gas entirely. The city has a two-step plan to replace 1,900 megawatts of coal-fired generation produced at a Utah power plant owned by the Intermountain Power Agency. The first step: …

Bloomberg Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd, South Africa’s indebted power utility, won a High Court ruling against the nation’s energy regulator, which had blocked the company from recovering some costs it says it incurred during the 2019 financial year. Eskom had asked the National Energy Regulator of South Africa for an 18.9% tariff increase to allow it to generate 219.5 billion …

Bloomberg PG&E Corp reached a deal with the US Federal Emergency Management Agency over $3.9 billion in relief Washington provided after the utility’s power lines sparked devastating wildfires. The settlement, which requires court approval, calls for FEMA to reduce its claim to $1 billion and allow victims of wildfires blamed on PG&E equipment to be paid in full first, lawyers …

Bloomberg Mexico’s finance minister said the country’s oil income is completely covered by its sovereign oil hedge. The timing couldn’t be better for the Latin American producer amid the biggest plunge in oil prices in almost three decades as Saudi Arabia and Russia vowed to pump more oil in a battle for market share. Mexico’s oil income is 100% covered …

Bloomberg Wednesday brought another day of reversals in many major markets, with US stock futures dropping, the dollar weakening and Treasury yields falling after surging a day earlier. Contracts on the S&P 500 Index fell about 2% after the US administration failed to offer details on what President Donald Trump said would be “major” measures to combat the economic impact …

Bloomberg Indian stocks advanced in a volatile session after the nation’s benchmark capped its steepest two-day slide in more than 11 years. Investors weighing an oil slump against economic risks fuelled by the coronavirus outbreak sent the S&P BSE Sensex Index up 0.2% to 35,697.4 at the close in Mumbai, reversing an earlier loss of as much as 1.1%. The …

Bloomberg It doesn’t seem to matter anymore whether global stocks are rising or falling — investors just keep snapping up more gold. Holdings in gold-backed exchange-traded funds surged by 55 tons in the previous three days, accounting for almost a third of year-to-date inflows, according to a preliminary tally by Bloomberg. As a haven asset, demand for gold tends to …

Bloomberg The Bank of Russia said it would begin selling foreign currency ahead of schedule after the rout in oil prices made the ruble the worst-performing currency in the world. The move is aimed at “increasing the predictability of the actions of the monetary authorities and reducing volatility on financial markets amid significant changes in the world oil market,” according …

Bloomberg Taiwan’s central bank disclosed its outstanding position in foreign-exchange swap trading, a rare move aimed at answering calls for improved transparency. The bank’s outstanding position in foreign-exchange swap trading was $99.1 billion at the end of February, the central bank’s Governor Yang Chin-long wrote in a report prepared for legislators. The central bank purchased a net $5.5 billion in …