U.S. Stocks Rally As Hopes for New Virus Vaccine Build

The S&P 500 and Dow industrials surged, recovering ground following their biggest weekly percentage drop in nearly two months. 


 
The Oil Market Is Betting People Want Crude for Christmas

The most wagered-upon oil prices these days are for crude bobbing at sea on big tankers-or even still in the ground. 


 
Home-Builder Confidence Increased in May After Record Drop Last Month

A measure of U.S. home-builder confidence improved in May following the index's biggest one-month drop last month as coronavirus-related shutdowns affected the economy. 


 
Investors Bet on ECB While Lapping Up Risky Government Bonds

Investors are lapping up a record amount of Southern European sovereign debt in a hunt for yield, and counting on the region's central bank to backstop the riskiest bonds. 


 
Coronavirus Short-Selling Bans Are Lifted Across Europe

A ban on short selling in several European countries-in place since mid-March to try to tame markets careening due to the coronavirus pandemic-has come to an end. 


 
The Fed's Big Challenge: Lending Directly to Businesses

The Federal Reserve is preparing to lend directly to middle-market businesses, filling a hole left by the government's economic-crisis relief efforts, and it is shaping up to be one of the trickiest things it has ever done. 


 
U.S. Coronavirus Cases Near 1.5 Million as States Ease Restrictions

Rules that have slowed the coronavirus are falling away in some U.S. states, Italy and other countries across the world this week as drugmakers race to develop a new vaccine and China pledged $2 billion to fight the pandemic beyond its borders. 


 
Fed's Powell Says Economy Faces Long, Uncertain Recovery

It will be hard for the U.S. public to be "fully confident" without a coronavirus vaccine, the central bank chairman said in a broadcast interview. 


 
China Trade Faces 'Unprecedented' Challenges From Pandemic, Commerce Minister Says

China's foreign trade faces "unprecedented" challenges as the coronavirus pandemic hobbles global demand, according to Commerce Minister Zhong Shan. 


 
Japan's Economy Fell Into

The third-largest economy slipped into a recession by one common definition in the first quarter of 2020, with worse expected in the current quarter.