Lockdowns have devastated retailers and restaurants on both sides of the Atlantic. An easing of restrictions won’t be the magic wand that waves their worries away. Even when it’s possible for consumers to walk freely into their favourite shops, they may be nervous about doing so. That puts the onus on retailers to make their locations as reassuring as possible. ...

Bloomberg Stocks fell in most of the world while US index futures edged lower in a sign the risk-off move that hit markets at the start of this month may have further to run. The dollar climbed. The Stoxx Europe 600 slumped at the open, with all 19 industry sectors down. Contracts on the three main American indexes traded in ...

Bloomberg Sell in May and go away? The negative start to the month raises concern that the partial recovery in April is going to be about as good as it gets for risk assets. For all the optimism stemming from the gradual easing of lockdown measures in some of the biggest economies, there are too many worries on the minds ...

Bloomberg Funding costs in Europe have probably been given the tonic they need to keep easing from the highest level since 2016. Judging by moves in interest-rate futures, the European Central Bank’s (ECB) plan to pump a deluge of cash into the euro area’s banks will drag a key lending rate down on Monday, when most of the region’s markets ...

Bloomberg HSBC Holdings Plc agreed to buy the remaining 50% stake in its Chinese life insurance venture as the Communist Party-ruled nation opens its financial markets. The lender will take full ownership of HSBC Life Insurance Company Ltd. after buying out its partner, The National Trust Ltd., according to an emailed statement. “This transaction supports our ambition to accelerate growth ...

Bloomberg Nigerian banks have more to worry about than the coronavirus: Cratering oil prices and the threat of another naira devaluation are emerging as the biggest risks to how many lenders will emerge unscathed. The industry has already agreed to forgo profit to support the economy as measures to contain the Covid-19 outbreak bring most businesses to a halt. Now, ...

Bloomberg Australia’s central bank (RBA) passed up buying bonds last week in its already reduced QE schedule as the rate it targets appears anchored for now. The calm may prove brief as governments at home and abroad start issuing reams of paper to finance their massive fiscal stimulus. The Reserve Bank is expected to maintain its three-year yield target at 0.25% ...

Bloomberg Visa Inc. shares fared better than the rest of the financials’ sector trading after its earnings report highlighted growth in online and electronic payments, even as purchases plunged across the board while the Covid-19 pandemic unfolded. Analysts continue to fear drawn-out economic consequences from lockdowns. Visa slipped about 0.9% while S&P 500 information tech index shed about 2.3%, and ...

Bloomberg Westpac Banking Corp. deferred its dividend after soaring bad-debt provisions and a potential record anti-money laundering fine sent first-half earnings plummeting to the lowest in almost two decades. Cash earnings fell 70% to $636 million in the six months ended March 31, Sydney-based Westpac said on Monday, its smallest profit since 2002. The bank is also considering selling smaller ...

Bloomberg Lloyds Banking Group Plc has begun to count the cost of the coronavirus pandemic to the British economy — and warned that the turmoil had made its old targets obsolete. Britain’s biggest mortgage lender booked a provision of 1.4 billion pounds ($1.75 billion) for possible soured loans as efforts to halt the spread of the virus crushed the economy. ...