TOKYO -- Tokyo stocks extended losses Thursday morning on rising concerns about a spike in COVID-19 infections in Tokyo, with people being requested to stay at home this weekend in a bid to combat the surge in cases in Japan's capital.

The 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average dropped 743.34 points, or 3.80 percent, from Wednesday to 18,803.29. (Japan-Tokyo-Stocks-Nikkei-Topix-Morning)

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WASHINGTON -- The U.S. Senate on Wednesday night passed a 2-trillion-dollar stimulus package to blunt the economic fallout of COVID-19, after rounds of negotiations between Democrats and Republicans.

The upper chamber passed the bill in a 96-0 vote, well above the 60-vote threshold. The package needs to be approved by the House of Representatives, before being sent to President Donald Trump's desk for signature. (US-Senate-Stimulus-COVID19)

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BERLIN -- Demand for selected everyday consumer goods in Germany soared as the spread of the corona pandemic is hitting Germany, the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) announced on Wednesday.

The evaluation by Destatis showed that sales figures for selected products rose to an "extremely high level" last week. Demand for toilet paper was more than three times higher last week than in the previous six months while demand for soap even increased by a factor of four. (Germany-Consumer Goods)

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RIO DE JANEIRO -- Brazilian state governors on Wednesday called on the federal government to adopt minimum income for citizens amid the COVID-19 outbreak.

Several states have established quarantine and isolation measures. Many people who have informal jobs are unable to work from home and thus lost all their incomes. (Brazil-COVID-19) Enditem

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