Business News

* PM Marape says PNG just wants "fair share" (Adds details on mining law changes)

Chemicals maker Johnson Matthey halved its dividend on Thursday and said it would cut nearly a fifth of its workforce as the coronavirus pandemic hits demand for its car pollution filters.

(A look at the day ahead from EMEA deputy markets and financial services editor Sujata Rao. The views expressed are her own.) It looked like the Federal Reserve had short-circuited the dollar, which slipped back to a three-month low after the U.S. central bank confirmed rates would stay near zero through 2022. But two things have frightened markets – first, the Fed's ultra-gloomy (though hardly surprising) outlook on the economy and unemployment, and second, an apparent resurgence in COVID-19 ca

* Europe falls 2.5%, Asia stocks retreat after 10 days of gains

* Lufthansa slumps after job loss warning (Adds comment, updates prices)

Unilever's decision to base the company solely in Britain and not in the Netherlands represented a vote of confidence in the country, said British business minister Alok Sharma.

New York-based podcasting platform Pocket Casts said its app had been taken down from Apple Inc's app store in China.

Uber Technologies Inc CEO Dara Khosrowshahi has spent much of his career deftly negotiating acquisitions. Yet his $6.5 billion all-stock bid for Grubhub Inc ended with the food delivery company being acquired by European rival Just Eat Takeway.com NV.

European food-ordering firm Just Eat Takeaway.com NV said on Wednesday it had agreed to buy U.S. peer Grubhub Inc in an all-stock deal that, if completed, would create the world's largest food delivery company outside China.

The dollar rose on Thursday from a three-month low which it hit in the previous session, as expectations that the global economy will recover swiftly from the coronavirus pandemic took a beating after a U.S. central bank policy meeting.

* Euro zone periphery govt bond yields http://tmsnrt.rs/2ii2Bqr

* Industry official expresses caution toward overseas demand (Adds further comment from the briefing, paragraph 10)

China's auto sales in May rose 14.5% from the same month a year earlier, industry data showed on Thursday, the second consecutive month of increase as the world's biggest vehicle market recovers from lows hit during coronavirus lockdowns.

Britain's Heathrow Airport, which before the coronavirus pandemic was the busiest in Europe, said it had started a voluntary redundancy scheme after passenger numbers fell to an all-time low and it could not rule out further job losses.

Finnish telecoms network maker Nokia said on Thursday it has appointed Marco Wiren as chief financial officer following changes of its chairman and chief executive this year.

Oil prices fell by about 4% on Thursday on worries about slow demand growth as coronavirus cases rise, with U.S. crude stockpiles hitting an all-time high and the U.S. Federal Reserve saying recovery from the pandemic could take years.

The market for COVID-19 antibody tests is red-hot. It has ballooned in a matter of months as hundreds of products flood the world for people who want to find out whether they've already had the virus.

Asian shares retreated on Thursday as a gloomy outlook from the U.S. Federal Reserve challenged market optimism on the global economy, while bonds rallied on speculation that yet more stimulus would be needed to ensure recovery.

Asian shares retreated on Thursday as a gloomy outlook from the U.S. Federal Reserve challenged market optimism on the global economy, while bonds rallied on speculation that yet more stimulus would be needed to ensure recovery.

Walmart Inc will stop keeping personal care products designed for people of color in locked display cases, the retailer said, after the practice drew flak online with many saying it suggested customers for these products cannot be trusted.