US stocks snap 2-day losing streak: April 2, 2020

Lowe’s is implementing a temporary $2 an hour pay increase for all of its workers.

The home improvement chain said in its announcement Thursday that the wage increase is for April only. It applies to all of the company's full-time, part-time and seasonal hourly workers who are employed at Lowe's stores, its contact centers and its fulfillment facilities in the United States and Canada.

Lowe’s CEO Marvin Ellison said the move was a “way to thank our 300,000 associates for their heroic actions in serving the needs of our communities.”

Masks and gloves will be available to all associates. Lowe's also noted that it has halted sales of N95 masks which are instead "being donated to hospitals to protect frontline healthcare workers."

Also, Lowe's will now close all of its stores at 7pm daily to allow time for cleaning and sanitizing.

The major US stock indexes have pulled back from their highs in the early afternoon. The rally earlier in the day came on the back of a jump in energy stocks as oil prices soared following President Donald Trump's call for production cuts.

Trump said in a tweet he has spoken to leaders in Saudi Arabia and Russia about the cutbacks in oil production. Saudi Arabia has since called for an emergency OPEC meeting, while Russia denied the conversation with Trump.

Oil prices are still up in the afternoon but have lost some steam. The same goes for energy stocks, which are off their highs.

The Dow was up 0.2%, or 40 points. At its high point, the index had been up more than 500 points.

The S&P 500 was up just 0.4%, and the Nasdaq Composite was flat.

Coca-Cola is not planning to lay off workers at this point, CEO James Quincey confirmed to CNN's Poppy Harlow in an interview on Thursday.

"We have not made any global restructuring," Quincey said, reiterating statements he made last week, adding that Coca-Cola is "a long-term company trying to do our best.” 

Still, Quincey has dire predictions for the next few months.

"Clearly this virus, this pandemic, is having an economic impact. I think we’re going to see the worst of it starting from March through to May," he said, adding that he expects a "deep shock" to the economy in the second quarter.

The pandemic has already had a devastating impact on jobs.

Businesses are closing their doors to try to stop the spread of the coronavirus pandemic. In the week ending March 28, 6.6 million US workers filed for their first week of unemployment benefits, according to the Department of Labor.

Coca-Cola is taking its own measures to try to protect workers, including spreading people out in production facilities, instructing employees to work remotely if they can and offering paid sick leave to people who get sick with coronavirus or think they might be ill.

IBM (IBM) has created a new tool within its Watson artificial intelligence system to help government agencies, health care organizations and schools field questions about coronavirus.

The tool, called Watson Assistant for Citizens, is designed to get data and information to citizens quickly -- and potentially cut down on wait times for calls to local hospitals and other authorities.

For example, the City of Lancaster in California is using the tool to answer questions from citizens about coronavirus symptoms and what to do in case of infection.

The Watson Assistant for Citizens draws guidance from national sources like the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, as well as from local sources for information like school closures, town news and state documents.

The tool can be deployed over the phone or online, and it uses IBM's Natural Language Processing technology to understand people's questions.

IBM is offering the Watson Assistant free for 90 days, and it's already being deployed in several US states plus the Czech Republic, Greece, Poland, Spain and the United Kingdom.

Goldman Sachs (GS) announced a $300 million coronavirus relief package to support small businesses and communities during the outbreak.

The bank will provide $250 million in low-interest emergency loans and $25 million in grants to community development financial institutions. A separate $25 million fund will support the hardest-hit communities, Goldman said in a press release.

Saudi Arabia is calling for an "urgent" meeting meeting between OPEC and other nations in hopes of reaching a production cut deal that could aid the battered oil market.

The Saudi Press Agency said in a tweet Thursday morning that the kingdom is seeking a meeting for OPEC+ states "and another group of countries" in an attempt to try to reach a "fair solution to restore a desire balance of the oil markets."

It's not clear who would be part of that additional group of countries. Since early March, Saudi Arabia and Russia have been engaged in an epic price war, flooding the market with excess oil and driving down prices.

The tweet said the invitation is part of Saudi Arabia's efforts to support the global economy "and in appreciation of the US President's request and the US friends' request."

Earlier, US oil prices spiked as much as 35% after President Donald Trump suggested Saudi Arabia and Russia could slash production by 10 million to 15 million barrels per day.

"Just spoke to my friend MBS (Crown Prince) of Saudi Arabia, who spoke with President Putin of Russia," Trump said in the tweet.

However, Dmitry Peskov, a spokesman for Russia's president, told Russian state media there was no such conversation between Putin and MBS.

US oil prices pared their gains but are still up a stunning 20% on the day.

It's been a wild morning for stocks. The major US indexes were all over the place when markets opened but are steadily rallying mid-morning.

The Dow is up 1.7%, or 350 points, while the S&P 500 is up 1.7%. The Nasdaq Composite is 1.3% higher.

Energy stocks are by far the best performing sector after oil prices jumped dramatically this morning following President Donald Trump's call for production cuts.

The S&P's top performers are all in the energy industry, and the sector is up more than 12%.

The oil market is going wild after President Donald Trump suggested Saudi Arabia and Russia could reach a truce that would slash production by 10 million barrels per day.

US crude skyrocketed as much as 35% to $27.39 a barrel Thursday morning after Trump's tweet.

"I expect & hope that they will be cutting back approximately 10 Million Barrels, and maybe substantially more which, if it happens, will be GREAT for the oil & gas industry!" Trump tweeted.

Crude was recently trading up 28% to $26 a barrel.

Oil prices crashed to 18-year lows earlier this week in part because Russia and Saudi Arabia are flooding the market with cheap oil at the worst possible time.

A deal to end that price war and instead reduce production would be a big positive for the depressed oil market.

However, it's weak demand -- not excess supply -- that's the primary cause of the oil crash. The extreme health restrictions imposed to fight the coronavirus pandemic has caused an unprecedented collapse in oil demand.

That means even if there is a truce between Saudi Arabia and Russia, oil prices could remain under pressure.

PepsiCo is adding millions of dollars to the fight against coronavirus.

The food and beverage maker announced it is setting aside a total of $45 million to fund Covid-19 relief efforts around the world.

In a written statement, Pepsi (PEP) said a total of $15.8 million will be spent on US coronavirus aid. Most of that money will fund meals for low-income children, but some will pay for protective gear for medical staffers and financial support for laid off restaurant workers.

An additional $29.2 million will go to relief efforts in Europe, Asia, Africa, and Latin America.

“We’re activating our global resources to do this now and provide other essential relief, and we will continue to do so as the world unites to tackle COVID-19,” PepsiCo Chairman & CEO Ramon Laguarta said in a written statement.