Food, beverage, tobacco stocks favored: Wells Fargo Securities

Public health officials have urged businesses to prepare for an outbreak in the US, a move that has triggered yet another market downturn. For investors, "it's hard to be optimistic," according to financial analysts.

The Nigerian Stock Exchange, sub-Saharan Africa's second biggest, has won approval from its members to become a listed company.

European stocks plummeted just after opening as the coronavirus outbreak destabilizes the world economy. Recent global stimulus measures failed to offset virus concerns.

A supermarket in Tokyo is packed with shoppers Friday morning and many shelves are emptied as Tokyo's governor urges people to stay home this weekend, warning of a possible "explosion" of the coronavirus after scores of new cases were discovered this week.

European stock markets have started the month in the red, after global shares had their worst three months since the financial crisis. The massive sell-off began around six weeks ago as investors tried to adapt to the coronavirus pandemic. As we enter a new quarter, there is no sign of improvement - stocks in Europe slumped by over 3 percent in trading this Wednesday. Also today, we discuss new figures showing that online sales have fallen for many French retailers since the lockdown began in the country

Ghana is the seventh largest trading partner of China in Africa. Thousands of businesses and traders in the West African country rely heavily on products from China to serve millions of consumers but the outbreak of the Coronavirus especially in China means they can’t access goods to stay in business. They are beginning to feel the impact

The share price of the US electric-car maker nosedived by around 10% at the end of the trading day after Tesla's CEO tweeted that the company's price was "too high." Elon Musk is also critical of the COVID-19 lockdown.

Police examine the scene after four gunmen attacked the Pakistan Stock Exchange in Karachi on Monday. An exchange board member says the attackers were "fully armed and equipped with machine guns."

AirBnB is set to become one of the marquee floatings of stock this year, after the home-sharing company decided to go public. The move comes as demand for home rentals have dropped due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The Chinese fintech giant had expected to raise an unprecedented $35 billion in its stock market debut. But concerns that regulatory oversight could get in the way are now being proven right.

Wall Street jumped on Wednesday, despite the uncertainty over the outcome of the US presidential election. Craig Erlam, senior markets analyst at Oanda, says investors are anxious to avoid a protracted dispute over the results. Also in the show, Business Editor Kate Moody looks at how carmakers and the tech industry could be affected by the outcome. Plus, California voters hand a victory to Uber in a key referendum on the gig economy.

Throughout a particularly challenging year, AFP met people from countries on all continents to take stock of the year 2020, its good and bad times, and to listen to their wishes for the year 2021.