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Apple Inc said late on Friday it will close all its retail stores outside Greater China until March 27, to minimize risk of coronavirus transmission.

U.S. President Donald Trump encountered a second individual last weekend who later tested positive for coronavirus, but the president did not require testing for the virus or quarantining, the White House physician said on Friday.

Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc said on Friday that former American Express Co Chief Executive Officer Kenneth Chenault has been nominated to the conglomerate's board of directors, replacing Microsoft Corp co-founder Bill Gates.

Chilean President Sebastian Pinera announced a ban on public events with more than 500 people on Friday, as the government tries to curtail the spread of coronavirus even as massive social demonstrations are planned in the coming weeks.

The U.S. telecoms regulator said Friday that major internet providers - including Comcast Corp, AT&T Inc and Verizon Communications Inc - agreed not to terminate service for subscribers for the next 60 days if they are unable to pay their bills due to disruptions caused by the coronavirus.

The Bulgarian parliament voted unanimously on Friday to declare a state of emergency until April 13 to contain the spread of coronavirus after the number of confirmed cases in the country more than tripled to 23.

British government is planning to introduce emergency laws next week to ban mass gatherings in an attempt to curb the coronavirus outbreak, Sky News reported https://news.sky.com/story/coronavirus-mass-gatherings-to-be-banned-under-government-plans-to-combat-covid-19-spread-11957350 late Friday, citing a Whitehall source.

Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc said on Friday that former American Express Co Chief Executive Officer Kenneth Chenault has been nominated to the conglomerate's board of directors, replacing Microsoft Corp co-founder Bill Gates.

Guatemala has extended a ban on arrivals from countries more heavily affected by the coronavirus outbreak to include the United States and Canada, President Alejandro Giammattei said on Friday.

The coronavirus epidemic is putting up to 50 million jobs in the global travel and tourism sector at risk, with travel likely to slump by a quarter this year, Asia being the most affected continent, the World Travel and Tourism Council said on Friday.

"There's trillions of dollars on the sideline, waiting and waiting and waiting," CNBC's Jim Cramer said on "Squawk Box." "They've got what they've been waiting for."

U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin on Friday said he expected the U.S. economic hit from the coronavirus outbreak to be short-term, and that the Trump administration was keeping its options open for any other future steps that may be needed.

Morocco on Friday suspended all flights and passenger ship traffic to and from France, the state news agency said.

U.S. stock markets opened sharply higher on Friday after their worst daily selloff in more than three decades as investors hoped more fiscal easing would head off a global recession.

The International Monetary Fund and World Bank Group on Friday advised their Washington headquarters staff to work from home after an IMF employee was diagnosed with COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus.