· Asia stocks little changed with oil prices mixed after record surge
Stocks in Asia were little changed on Friday following a record surge in oil prices overnight that saw U.S. crude futures soaring more than 24%.
Mainland Chinese stocks were lower on the day, with the Shanghai composite down 0.6% to about 2,763.99 while the Shenzhen composite shed 0.47% to around 1,689.57. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index dipped about0.6%, as of its final hour of trading.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 closed largely flat at 17,820.19 while the Topix index ended its trading day 0.36% lower at 1,325.13. South Korea’s Kospi also closed just above the flatline at 1,725.44.
Meanwhile, shares in Australia slipped, with the S&P/ASX 200 closing 1.68% lower at 5,067.50.
Overall, the MSCI Asia ex-Japan index shed 0.68%.
· European markets decline as euro zone business activity plunges to record low
European markets were slightly lower Friday morning as another rocky week of trading draws to a close amid the deepening coronavirus crisis.
The pan-European Stoxx 600 fell by 0.3%, with insurance stocks sliding 2.9% to lead losses while health care bucked the downward trend to climb by 0.5%.
Friday saw a slew of harrowing March PMI (purchasing managers’ index) data out of the euro zone, as the economic impact of shutdowns necessitated by the pandemic continues to deepen.
Data despair
The headline IHS Markit composite PMI for the euro zone collapsed from 51.6 in February to an all-time low of 29.7 in March, below a flash estimate of 31.4 and its largest single-month drop since the index began in1998. Anything below 50 represents a contraction in activity.
IHS Markit Chief Executive Chris Williamson said the data indicates that the euro zone economy is already contracting at a rate “approaching 10%,” according to Reuters, with worse to come.
The Italian, Spanish and French service sectors all recorded their deepest recession on record in March, while German services firms laid off employees at the fastest rate in almost 23 years.
- Spain’s services activity suffers record decline in March, private survey shows
Spain’s services industry recorded “unprecedented contractions” in activity following strict lockdown measures implemented to curb the spread of the coronavirus, a private survey showed.
The IHS Markit Spain Services Purchasing Managers’ Index — which measures activity in the industry — sank to a record low of 23.0 in March from 52.1 in February.
Reference: CNBC, Reuters
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