· The dollar was a touch firmer on Wednesday, buoyed by its safe-haven status with the world staring at what is likely to be one of the worst economic contractions for decades as it locks down to fight the coronavirus pandemic.
The Australian dollar dipped 0.2% to $0.6123 AUD=D4 and the New Zealand dollar dropped 0.3% to $0.5945 NZD=D4. The euro EUR= eased 0.3% to $1.1010 and the dollar rose 0.2% to 107.74 Japanese yen JPY=.
The dollar was marginally higher against emerging market currencies and steady at 7.0810 Chinese yuan CNY=. Against the pound GBP= the dollar firmed 0.3% to $1.2381 per pound.
Against a basket of currencies =USD it was flat at 99.028.
Goldman Sachs on Tuesday said it now forecasts a real GDP sequential decline of 34% in the United States this quarter, on an annualized basis, compared with an earlier estimate of a 24% drop.
CORONAVIRUS CRISIS UPDATES:
- Total confirmed cases: More than 860,170
- Total deaths: At least 42,344
- The coronavirus COVID-19 is affecting 203 countries and territories around the world and 1 international conveyance (the Diamond Princess cruise ship harbored in Yokohama, Japan, and the Holland America's MS Zaandam cruise ship.)
- US cases: At least 188,592, and deaths: 4,055 (+2)
- Italy cases: At least 105,792, and deaths: 12,428
- Thailand cases: At least 1,771 (+120), and deaths: 12 (+2)
· Results of a private survey released on Wednesday showed China’s manufacturing activity expanded slightly in March as factories began to come online amid a coronavirus outbreak.
The Caixin/Markit manufacturing Purchasing Manager’s Index for March was 50.1.
Analysts polled by Reuters had expected the Caixin/Markit PMI to come in at 45.5, compared with February’s sharpest contraction on record at 40.3.
Although the survey showed business confidence improved as output resumed gradually, Caixin and IHS Markit noted demand challenges ahead.
· Beijing will not sit and watch Huawei get “slaughtered” and could retaliate if there are further sanctions on the Chinese technology giant, a top Huawei executive told CNBC on Tuesday.
The comments came in response to a Reuters report that suggested senior officials in the Trump administration had drawn up new rules that would require chipmakers to obtain a license if they use American equipment to make components sold to Huawei.
The Reuters article, citing a source, said that the rule change is aimed at curbing the sale of chips from Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) to Huawei. TSMC makes chips that Huawei designs.
· Japan’s business confidence soured to levels not seen since 2013, a closely watched survey showed, as the coronavirus pandemic hit sectors from hotels to carmakers and pushed the economy closer to recession.
The worsening corporate morale underscores the challenge Prime Minister Shinzo Abe faces in ensuring the pandemic does not erase the benefits of his “Abenomics” fiscal and monetary stimulus, deployed seven years ago to revive a stagnant economy.
The Bank of Japan’s quarterly “tankan” survey on Wednesday showed big manufacturers’ sentiment turned pessimistic for the first time in seven years as supply chain disruptions caused by the outbreak hit sectors across the board.
Service-sector sentiment also hit a seven-year low as travel bans and social distancing policies hurt consumption, clouding an already dark outlook.
· Japan remains on the brink of a state of emergency as the rate of new coronavirus cases accelerates across the country, its top government spokesman said on Wednesday, amid reports the capital may order public schools to stay closed for a second month.
· China reported on Wednesday a fall in new confirmed coronavirus cases, with almost all cases imported from overseas.
China had 36 new cases on Tuesday, the National Health Commission said on Wednesday, down from 48 a day earlier.
All but one of the cases were imported, bringing the total number of imported cases to 806.
· Taiwan dramatically upped its estimate for how much it would spend helping the economy deal with the impact of the coronavirus to $35 billion on Wednesday, and said it would donate 10 million face masks to the most needy countries.
· The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Germany has risen to 67,366 and 732 people have died of the disease, statistics from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for infectious diseases showed on Wednesday.
Cases rose by 5,453 compared with the previous day while the death toll climbed by 149, the tally showed.
· Factory activity contracted sharply across most of Asia in March as the coronavirus pandemic paralyzed economic activity across the globe, with sharp falls in export power-houses Japan and South Korea overshadowing a modest improvement in China.
Manufacturing gauges also tumbled in Indonesia, Vietnam and the Philippines, Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) surveys showed on Wednesday, underscoring the widening damage brought by the pandemic that has infected more than 700,000 people, upended supply chains and led to city lockdowns worldwide.
· Nearly 30 medical workers at a hospital in northern Mexico have been infected with coronavirus, the regional health department told Reuters on Tuesday, in one of the worst outbreaks to hit the country’s healthcare system so far.
Mexico has so far reported 1,215 coronavirus cases and 29 deaths, and officials have warned that hospitals and clinics could be overwhelmed if the number of infections rise to levels seen in Europe.
· German households stocking up on daily essentials ahead of anticipated lock-down and quarantine measures caused retail sales in Germany to surge far beyond expectations in February, official data showed on Wednesday.
On the year, retail sales jumped 6.4% on an adjusted basis, far outstripping the expectations of analysts, who had forecast an increase of just 1.5%. On the month, sales rose by 1.2%.
· Global crude oil prices slid further on Wednesday, following their biggest-ever quarterly and monthly losses, as a bigger-than-expected rise in U.S. inventories and a widening rift within OPEC heightened oversupply fears.
Oil prices are near their lowest since 2002 amid the global coronavirus crisis that has brought a worldwide economic slowdown and slashed oil demand. Crude futures ended the quarter down nearly 70% after record losses in March.
As of 0643 GMT, Brent crude LCOc1 was down by $1.02, or 3.9%, at $25.33 a barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude Clc1 was down 35 cents, or 1.7%, at $20.13 a barrel, after giving up an earlier gain which analysts said was driven by position building at the start of a the new quarter.
Reference: Reuters, CNBC, Worldometers
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