· CORONAVIRUS CRISIS:
Ø Total confirmed cases: More than 2,994,731
Ø Total deaths: At least 206,990
Ø The coronavirus COVID-19 is affecting 210 countries and territories around the world and 2international conveyances: the Diamond Princess cruise ship harbored inYokohama, Japan, and the Holland America's MS Zaandam cruise ship.
Ø US cases: At least 987,160 and deaths: 55,413
Ø Spain cases: At least 226,629 and deaths: 23,190
Ø Italy cases: At least 197,675 and deaths: 26,644
Ø Thailand cases: At least 2,922 and deaths: 51
· Dollar edges lower but stimulus uncertainty keeps euro gains capped
The U.S. dollar eased against the euro on Friday, snapping a four-day winning streak as investors covered some bearish bets against the common currency, but broader concerns about the euro’s outlook kept dollar bears in check.
Against the dollar, the euro was up 0.16% on the day at $1.0793. For the week, the dollar remains about 0.7% higher against the euro, set for its biggest weekly rise in three week.
Even after Friday’s gains, the euro remained short of the high of $1.0846 touched on Thursday on hopes that a European Union meeting on Thursday to build a trillion-euro emergency fund would yield concrete results.
Sterling was 0.14% higher on the day at $1.2359 despite data showing British retail sales fell by the most on record in March as a surge in food buying for the coronavirus lockdown was dwarfed by a plunge in sales of clothing and most other goods.
The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of its peers, was at 100.261 after seeing levels below 100 last week.
· Next wave of U.S. states set to reopen as coronavirus could push jobless rate to 16%
Another wave of states prepared to ease coronavirus restrictions on U.S. commerce this week, despite health experts warning there is still too little diagnostic testing, while the White House forecast a staggering jump in the nation’s monthly jobless rate.
The economic fallout from the unprecedented social distancing requirements has been devastating.
Business shutdowns have led to a record 26.5 million Americans filing for unemployment benefits since mid-March. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office predicted on Friday that the economy would contract at an annual rate of nearly a 40% in the second quarter.
Even next year, the CBO forecast calls for an unemployment rate averaging above 10%. Before the pandemic struck, the U.S. jobless rate was hovering at a 50-year low of 3.5%.
White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett told reporters on Sunday the jobless rate would likely hit 16% or more in April.
The shuttering of the U.S. economy due to the coronavirus pandemic is a shock of historic proportions that likely will push the national unemployment rate to 16% or higher this month and require more stimulus to ensure a strong rebound, a White House economic adviser said on Sunday.
“This is the biggest negative shock that our economy, I think, has ever seen. We’re going to be looking at an unemployment rate that approaches rates that we saw during the Great Depression” of the 1930s, Hassett added.
· U.S. says will not take part in WHO global drugs, vaccine initiative launch
The United States will not take part in the launching of a global initiative on Friday to speed the development, production and distribution of drugs and vaccines against COVID-19, a spokesman for the U.S. mission in Geneva told Reuters.
“There will be no U.S. official participation”, he said in an email reply to a query. “We look forward to learning more about this initiative in support of international cooperation to develop a vaccine for COVID-19 as soon as possible.”
· Trump pulls punches and clings to his China trade deal as backlash against Beijing grows
With six months before the November election and America gripped by its worst disaster since 9/11, President Donald Trump’s reelection effort is ready to bash Beijing.
But Trump himself has yet to embrace this plan, by all indications. For instance, his campaign team does not appear to have purchased airtime yet for a China-centric ad it created earlier this month.
Trump still appears convinced he can win reelection over apparent Democratic nominee Joe Biden by running on his leadership over the past three years, including during the coronavirus pandemic. Trump has made it clear he believes the economy will return to pre-coronavirus strength after the outbreak subsides, and he will be credited with its recovery.
· U.S. core capital goods orders eke out surprise gain
New orders for key U.S.-made capital goods unexpectedly rose in March, but the gains are unlikely to be sustainable amid the novel coronavirus outbreak, which has virtually shut down the country and contributed to a collapse in crude oil prices.
Despite the slight pickup in demand reported by the Commerce Department on Friday, shipments of these goods dropped further last month, suggesting that a downturn in business investment persisted into the first quarter and would contribute to what economists expect will be the sharpest economic contraction since the Great Recession.
· U.S. deficit could quadruple to $3.7 trillion in coronavirus crisis: CBO
A nationwide business shutdown and surge in U.S. government spending will nearly quadruple the federal deficit to a record $3.7 trillion this fiscal year as the country combats the coronavirus pandemic, congressional forecasters said on Friday.
U.S. gross domestic product will plunge by nearly 40% on an annualized basis in the second quarter, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office. But the CBO forecast an economic resurgence in the second half of the year, and said unemployment would crest at 16% but remain in double digits throughout 2021.
· German economy to shrink by more than 6% this year: government source
The German economy will contract by more than 6% this year, a government source told Reuters on Friday, which would be a post-World War Two record.
The economy will rebound from the coronavirus pandemic in 2021 with growth of more than 5%, the source added.
· Philippine economy to suffer first annual contraction in over two decades: central bank
The coronavirus outbreak will likely send the Philippine economy into its first annual contraction in more than two decades this year, before it pulls back up for a U-shaped recovery in 2021, the central bank governor said on Saturday.
Key cities in the Philippines, among the fastest growing economies in Asia during the pre-pandemic period, are under strict quarantine measures since mid-March.
Philippine gross domestic product would likely shrink by 0.2% in 2020 before bouncing back to about 7.7% as policy support measures gain traction, central bank Governor Benjamin Diokno said in a statement.
That would mark a sharp reversal from the government’s initial annual growth target of between 6.5% and 7.5% for 2020 to 2022.
The economic recovery would follow a U-shaped path in 2021, following a slowdown in the first quarter and contractions in the next two quarters of this year, Diokno said. “The strong recovery is based on the assumption that the pandemic is contained in the second half of 2020.”
· Greek economy expected to shrink by 5-10% this year: finance minister
The Greek economy, hit by coronavirus restrictions, is expected to shrink by 5-10% this year, the country’s finance minister said on Saturday.
“It seems we have been settling at a range of between 5 and 10 percentage points,” Finance Minister Christos Staikouras told Open television station.
He added that estimates are changing constantly, depending on the impact of the restrictions to stem the spread of COVID-19 and on how those restrictions will be lifted.
· Oil ends volatile week lower despite nearly 50% jump over three days
Crude prices rose on Friday as energy producers continued to cut the number of rigs drilling for oil in the United States and Canada. Both Brent and the U.S. crude benchmarks, however, remained on track for their third straight week of losses as global production shutdowns failed to keep pace with the collapse in demand caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
U.S. oil settled 44 cents, or 2.67%, higher at $16.94 per barrel, after surging nearly 20% in the previous session. Brent crude traded 32 cents, or 1.5%, higher at $21.65. Each one traded in negative territory at certain points throughout the trading session.
U.S. energy firms cut the most oil rigs in a month in April since 2015, according to energy services firm Baker Hughes Co . In Canada, drillers slashed the number of active oil and gas rigs to a record low.
The oil market has experienced unprecedented turbulence since U.S. prices fell into negative territory on Monday for the first time ever and international benchmark Brent sank to two-decade lows.
Investors have sold oil aggressively since early March, in response to a 30% collapse in demand due to the pandemic.
· Oil futures open lower in electronic trading
U.S. oil futures dipped in electronic trading Sunday evening, extending losses from last week that marked the eighth week of losses out of the last nine.
Trading was extremely volatile last week, in an extension of the selling that has dominated trading since early March as demand collapsed 30% due to the pandemic. Global production cuts have not kept pace with the collapse in demand.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate CLc1 futures were down 32 cents to $16.62 a barrel as of 6:15 p.m. ET (2215 GMT), while Brent futures LCOc1 rose 12 cents, or 0.6%, to settle at $21.56 a barrel.
Oil futures marked their third straight week of losses last week, with Brent ending down 24% and WTI off around 7%.
· Exclusive: China sent team including medical experts to advise on North Korea’s Kim
The trip by the Chinese doctors and officials comes amid conflicting reports about the health of the North Korean leader. Reuters was unable to immediately determine what the trip by the Chinese team signaled in terms of Kim’s health.
A delegation led by a senior member of the Chinese Communist Party’s International Liaison Department left Beijing for North Korea on Thursday, two of the people said. The department is the main Chinese body dealing with neighbouring North Korea.
The sources declined to be identified given the sensitivity of the matter.
· South Korea says Kim Jong Un is 'alive and well' amid mounting speculation
South Korea continued to pour water on mounting speculation about the health of North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un, telling CNN he is "alive and well".
"Our government position is firm," Moon Chung-in, the top foreign policy adviser to South Korean President Moon Jae-in, told CNN.
"Kim Jong Un is alive and well. He has been staying in the Wonsan area since April 13. No suspicious movements have so far been detected."
Reference: CNBC, Reuters, 9news
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