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Companies grapple with protecting staff in critical industry where many cannot work from home

Africa's largest lender, Standard Bank, on Tuesday withdrew its guidance for its upcoming financial year, citing the uncertainty around the impact coronavirus will have on its performance.

Japan's Government Pension Investment Fund (GPIF) said on Tuesday it would raise its allocation target for foreign bonds to 25% from the current 15%, marking a shift from unprofitable domestic bonds to foreign assets.

JC Decaux, the world's biggest outdoor advertising company, said on Tuesday that it would end up buying a minority stake in Hong Kong company Clear Media as part of a broader consortium takeover of Clear Media.

The coronavirus crisis will prompt Bulgaria to raise 4.2 billion levs ($2.36 billion) in debt this year to finance an expected fiscal gap and pledges for loan guarantees to businesses, its finance minister said on Tuesday.

Asia's dealmakers are looking to distressed sales and a pick-up in take-private deals after fallout from the coronavirus outbreak sent first-quarter M&A activity to a seven-year low.

Global mergers and acquisitions activity plunged 28% in the first quarter to its lowest level since 2016 as the devastating economic effects of the coronavirus pandemic took hold in March, compounding a slow start to the year for dealmakers.

Dubai-based banks will implement measures to help customers cope with the fallout from the coronavirus pandemic, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) state news agency WAM reported.

Shareholders of Abu Dhabi-listed Commercial Bank International, which is part owned by Qatar National Bank, have declined a proposed by the board to increase the capital of the company, according to a regulatory filing on Tuesday.

China shares climbed on Tuesday after the country reported a better-than-expected industrial activity, spurring hopes that the world's second-largest economy is starting to recover from the shock of the coronavirus pandemic. ** At the midday break, the Shanghai Composite index was up 0.4% at 2,758.81 points. The blue-chip CSI300 index was up...