Bloomberg South Africa’s rand headed for a near-four-year low, stocks entered a correction and bonds slumped as concerns about a looming credit-rating downgrade to junk compounded fears about the effect of the coronavirus on the country’s economy. The stampede away from risk assets hammered commodities from oil to copper and iron, driving the Bloomberg Commodity Index to a 33-year low …

Bloomberg Citigroup Inc expanded restrictions on employee business travel this week as the coronavirus continued its spread around the world, according to people familiar with the matter. The bank added Italy to the list of countries off-limits to employees after restricting travel to and from Asia for the last several weeks, the people said, asking not to be named discussing …

Bloomberg London Heathrow’s expansion plans face further delays after environmental activists won an appeal over a third runway that Europe’s busiest airport says it needs to boost flights and compete with rival hubs. Appeal court judges overturned a decision from May in favour of the project, saying the UK government failed to take full account of international agreements on climate …

Bloomberg Deutsche Lufthansa AG will significantly curtail flights and ground more planes in a new sign of the coronavirus’s escalating toll on travel. The German flag carrier will cut as much as a quarter of its short- and medium-haul flights across all brands in the coming weeks. The number of grounded aircraft for long-haul services will rise to 23 from …

Bloomberg Growing fear over coronavirus is battering commercial airline stocks, but private jet operators are seeing a spike in demand as well-heeled travellers look to minimise their public exposure and find alternatives to suspended flights. “There’s undoubtedly been a rise in demand for short-notice, on-demand charter,” said Adam Twidell, chief executive officer of jet charter provider PrivateFly. “We’ve had a …

Bloomberg JC Penney Co showed some signs of progress in its recovery effort over the holiday season, though a sixth straight quarter of declining sales show it still has a way to go. The company’s same-store sales results that weren’t as bad as analysts had expected, fell 7% in the fourth quarter. That’s compared with a drop of 7.5%, the …

Bloomberg Walmart Inc named Jamie Iannone as its chief operating officer (COO) for US e-commerce, the latest reshuffle in its senior management ranks. Iannone, who joined Walmart in 2014, was previously running the web, membership and marketing operations of the retailer’s wholesale subsidiary Sam’s Club, according to a memo obtained by Bloomberg News. At Sam’s Club, he spearheaded several initiatives …

Bloomberg The world’s biggest companies have started sounding the alarm. From Apple Inc. to Microsoft Corp., the corporate world has seen a sharp increase in profit warnings about a financial hit from the coronavirus in the past two weeks. But that may be just the tip of the iceberg, with the biggest blow to sales and supply chains mainly confined …

ABU DHABI / WAM The second phase of Marking Tobacco and Tobacco Products Scheme is set to commence on March 1, with the scheme aiming to utilise latest digital solutions to boost efficiency of tax control systems and, in turn, support UAE’s transition to a knowledge-based economy in line with the National Agenda. The Federal Tax Authority (FTA), reaffirmed its …

Bloomberg US and Taliban officials signed a peace deal aimed at winding down the war in Afghanistan after more than 18 years of fighting that turned into the longest conflict in American history. Secretary of State Michael Pompeo led a US delegation that signed the agreement with Taliban leaders. The deal — which followed a seven-day reduction in violence — …