Bloomberg On a day rife with reasons for optimism, stock investors absorbed their sharpest blow since October as creeping nervousness around a virus outbreak finally provoked some serious selling. The S&P 500 fell almost 1 percent, its biggest drop in nearly four months. The equity market’s “fear gauge,” the Cboe Volatility Index, climbed for a fourth straight session to the …

Bloomberg Copper saw its worst streak of losses since mid-2018 as more patients were infected by the deadly coronavirus in the US, spurring a sell-off in riskier assets while boosting gold’s haven appeal. US officials are monitoring more than 60 people as they attempt to catch new cases of coronavirus in travelers from China, the centre of the outbreak. Mounting …

Bloomberg A crisis of confidence is brewing in Indonesia’s mutual-fund industry after some asset managers created products that invested in tiny, illiquid stocks, which have plunged in value. The volatility has triggered a “serious issue” in the nation’s capital markets that’s raised public concerns, said Wimboh Santoso, chairman of Indonesia’s Financial Services Authority. The regulator last year restricted sales of …

Bloomberg Boeing Co’s newest plane, so big that its wings are hinged, finally rumbled into the skies over the Washington factory complex constructed a half century ago for the original jumbo jet. After a delay on January 24 because of high winds, the jet took off from Boeing Field on Saturday and landed successfully almost four hours later. It’s set …

Bloomberg Indonesia’s scandal-ridden flag carrier won praise from analysts for its leadership overhaul, with its new CEO getting support from a lieutenant who was among those criticising the airline’s accounting practices. The appointment of Deputy Chief Executive Officer Dony Oskaria, who will help run PT Garuda Indonesia alongside CEO Irfan Setiaputra, raised the expectation the state-backed company will be able …

Bloomberg Fairway Group Holdings Corp has gone bankrupt for the second time since 2016, overwhelmed by its lingering debt load and cutthroat price competition in the grocery business. The New York grocer filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy with an agreement to sell five stores and a distribution facility to Village Super Market Inc, owner of 30 ShopRite supermarkets. The deal, …

Bloomberg Wm Morrison Supermarkets Plc is cutting thousands of managerial roles from its grocery stores across the UK in favour of increased shop-floor staff. The British grocer is changing the way stores are staffed in a bid to serve customers better as competition intensifies in the supermarket industry, Morrison said. The changes will result in the removal of about 3,000 …

NAIROBI / WAM Policy makers, mayors, academics, business people, community leaders, artists and urban planners are among thousands of participants to attend the world’s leading conference on urbanisation, the World Urban Forum (WUF), in Abu Dhabi from February 8-13. It will be the first time that the World Urban Forum, which is convened by the UN agency focused on sustainable …

Bloomberg Crude posted the worst weekly decline in more than a year on concern that the spread of China’s coronavirus will cripple fuel demand. Brent futures sank 2.2% in London. Deaths from the coronavirus rose to at least 26 and China expanded travel restrictions for about 40 million people in an attempt to halt contagion. The US is monitoring more …

ABU DHABI / WAM The UAE Consulate in Houston has confirmed that all Emiratis in Houston are safe following the explosion that occurred in a factory in the city, advising all UAE citizens in Houston to register for the online “My Presence” service via the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ website or its smart application and to communicate with the consulate …