Macy’s credit rating was cut to junk status at S&P Global Ratings, two weeks after it unveiled a $1.5bn cost-cutting plan amid pressure to adapt to declining mall traffic and consumers’ growing appetite for online shopping.

Global stocks dipped as a sales warning from Apple rippled across markets in the latest sign of the mounting corporate and financial cost of the coronavirus outbreak. 

The new chief executive of BHP, the world’s biggest natural resources group, has brushed aside concerns about the re-entry of Anglo American to the fertiliser market.

Pacific Gas and Electric on Tuesday reported a $3.6bn quarterly loss driven by a hefty charge associated with a settlement it reached with wildfire victims.

The world’s biggest retailer Walmart has reported a drop in profits and a sharp slowdown in US revenue growth after sales of toys, computer games and clothing were unexpectedly weak in the run-up to Christmas.

A gauge of business activity in the New York state jumped to its highest level in nine months in February, boosted by inventories and new orders.

InterContinental Hotels Group, the owner of Crowne Plaza and Holiday Inn, has continued to ink deals with franchisees in China despite the coronavirus outbreak closing thousands of hotels across the country.

Investor sentiment in Germany dropped sharply in February as the effects of the coronavirus outbreak weighed on exporters, a survey revealed, adding to an increasingly gloomy picture for Europe’s biggest economy.

The UK Budget will be delivered on March 11 as planned, despite the abrupt departure of Sajid Javid as chancellor last week.

Wage growth in the UK dipped to its slowest rate in more than a year at the end of 2019 but the labour market remained resilient, with a new record high employment rate despite the economy’s stagnation. 

The new chief executive of BHP said he wanted to expand in the commodities that would be needed in the shift to a low-carbon economy and was prepared to sell its thermal coal assets at the right price.

Sustainability consultant ERM has expanded its presence with the acquisition of Critical Resource, a London-based group focused on the natural resources industry.

Global markets rose after Beijing signalled it was likely to ramp up stimulus measures as authorities seek to cushion the economic blow from the coronavirus outbreak.

French high-speed rail maker Alstom has agreed to buy Canadian Bombardier’s train unit in a deal worth close to €7.5bn, as it looks to bulk up in the face of rising Chinese competition and growing demand in Europe.

NMC Health’s founder BR Shetty has quit the board of the hospital operator as scrutiny of the FTSE 100 company’s ownership structure and finances intensifies.

Anglo American Platinum’s chief executive Chris Griffith is to step down after more than seven years at the helm.

Jupiter Fund Management’s chief executive Andrew Formica has launched a defence of stock picking even after the fund management group agreed to buy a rival that has lost a third of its value in the past two years.

Despite a holiday-shortened week in the US, investors have a busy calendar ahead with remarks from Federal Reserve policymakers, the release of Fed minutes, elections in Iran and negotiations over the European Union’s budget.

US stocks closed at record highs and registered their second weekly gain in a row, as investors put uncertainty over the coronavirus outbreak on the back burner.

US industrial output declined for the fourth time in the past five months, depressed by warm weather and a halt in Boeing’s production of the 737 Max.

US consumers kicked off 2020 in a steady fashion, with headline retail sales rising slightly, although underlying measures of discretionary spending stalled and growth in previous months was revised lower.

Volkswagen has attempted to circumvent Germany’s largest collective lawsuit by offering more than 400,000 customers direct compensation for vehicles that were installed with diesel emissions cheat devices ahead of a critical court date in May.

Khalifa al-Muhairi, one of NMC’s controlling shareholders, has resigned from the board of the healthcare group after a turbulent few months in which the company’s finances and ownership structure have been questioned.

EDF has laid out a higher earnings target for this year after core annual profits rose on the back of better power prices in the UK and France and a strong performance in renewables.

Royal Bank of Scotland will drop its 300-year-old company name and rebrand as NatWest as its chief executive prepares a sweeping overhaul for a new era of less profitable but more sustainable banking.