Moody's has downgraded South Africa's credit rating to junk status, piling more anguish on an economy  already in recession and battered by Africa's worst coronavirus outbreak.

With streets in major cities empty, and shops and restaurants forced to close due to the coronavirus pandemic, there was a record explosion of Americans filing for unemployment benefits.

G20 nations on Thursday pledged a "united front" in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic, and said they were injecting $5 trillion into the global economy to counter the impact of the crisis.

"We are injecting over $5 trillion into the global economy, as part of targeted fiscal policy, economic measures, and guarantee schemes to counteract the social, economic and financial impacts of the pandemic," the leaders said in a statement after an emergency online summit.

Oil prices slipped back in Asian trade on Thursday, as a Senate vote on a massive stimulus package to help the coronavirus-ravaged US economy was delayed.

Gold, prized by investors in times of crisis as a safe haven, is experiencing surging demand in the face of the coronavirus outbreak -- from both commodity traders and retail buyers.

Asian markets mostly rose Thursday as investors breathed a sigh of relief that US senators have finally passed a gargantuan stimulus package for the world's top economy after being delayed by wrangling over details.

The former head of Swiss banking giant Credit Suisse pocketed nearly $11 million last year as the company grappled with a massive spying scandal, the bank indicated in its annual report Wednesday.

Moscow on Tuesday confirmed world powers, including President Vladimir Putin, will be holding an emergency G20 online summit this week to discuss a global coronavirus response.

U.S. President Donald Trump insisted Tuesday that he wants the coronavirus lockdown relaxed in the United States by mid-April, warning that keeping the measures in place could "destroy" the country.

"A lot of people agree with me. Our country -- it's not built to shut down," he said on Fox News. "You can destroy a country this way by closing it down."

With American life upended, lawmakers in the U.S. Congress are negotiating over a massive stimulus package to help pull the economy out of the steep decline caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

Legislators are still negotiating the $2 trillion rescue which could be the largest emergency spending effort ever and contains vast sums of money directed at consumers and businesses alike.