· CORONAVIRUS UPDATES:
→ Total confirmed cases: More than 126,063
→ Total deaths: At least 4,616
→ The coronavirus COVID-19 is affecting 123 countries and territories around the world and 1 international conveyance (the Diamond Princess cruise ship harbored in Yokohama, Japan).
→ US cases: At least 1,302 (+308), and deaths: 38 (+8)
→ Italy cases: At least 12,462 (+2,313), and deaths: 827 (+196)
→ South Korea cases: At least 7,755 (+242), and deaths: 60
→ Iran cases: At least 9,000 (+958), and deaths: 354 (+63)
- Six new local infections lift Covid-19 cases to 59
The Public Health Ministry on Wednesday reported six new local cases of coronavirus disease (Covid-19) infection, five Thais and one Singaporean, lifting the total number of cases to 59.
Of the six new cases, two work at Suvarnabhumi airport, Sophon Iamsirithavorn, director of the Department of Disease Control, said.
- World Health Organization calls coronavirus outbreak 'pandemic' for first time
The World Health Organization described the new coronavirus as a pandemic for the first time on Wednesday, adding that Italy and Iran were now on the frontline of the disease and other countries would soon join them.
He urged the global community to redouble efforts to contain the outbreak, saying aggressive measures could still play a big role to curb it.
In the past two weeks the number of cases outside China had risen 13-fold, and the number of countries affected had tripled, a sombre-looking Tedros said, displaying little of his normally upbeat persona.
Mike Ryan, head of the WHO’s emergencies program, said the situation in Iran was “very serious” and the agency would like to see more surveillance and more care for the sick.
- U.S. eyes direct deposit to workers, tax delays, airline aid in fight against coronavirus
The Trump administration wants to ease the economic drag from the fast-spreading coronavirus with aid to workers and businesses that will pump hundreds of billions of dollars into the U.S. economy, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin told lawmakers on Wednesday.
The White House aims to propose several phases of relief measures to Congress, including a delay of the April 15 tax filing deadline, reimbursements for lost wages to sick and quarantined workers, aid to small and mid-size businesses and support for airlines, hotels and other travel firms, Mnuchin said.
The Democratic-led House of Representatives plans to vote on the first phase of aid on Thursday, a bill that includes expanding unemployment benefits for those who have lost work because of the virus-driven slowdown.
- Payroll tax cut just one option being considered in coronavirus response: U.S. Senate's Grassley
U.S. Senate Finance Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley said on Wednesday that a payroll tax cut was just one of the options under consideration to offset the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic.
- Washington considers actions to bolster U.S. economy as coronavirus cases mount
As U.S. coronavirus cases rose steadily, the White House and Congress negotiated measures on Tuesday to bolster the U.S. economy and Americans’ paychecks against the outbreak’s impact, although there was no immediate sign of a deal.
The rise in the number of U.S. cases of COVID-19, a highly contagious and sometimes fatal respiratory illness, has concerned health officials and spurred calls within Congress for action to expand testing and avert an economic meltdown.
“We had a good reception on Capitol Hill. We’re going to be working with Republican and Democratic leadership to move a legislative package,” Vice President Mike Pence, who is leading the White House’s coronavirus task force, told a White House briefing.
A central feature of the administration’s legislative proposal is payroll tax relief, although the extent and duration of the proposal were unclear.
White House officials have also said the administration could undertake executive action to help small businesses and workers, including those who do not receive paid sick leave.
Trump is scheduled to meet with bank executives at the White House on Wednesday.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, who is leading negotiations on behalf of Republican President Donald Trump, met with Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to discuss a possible deal.
- U.S. Fed banks in NY, Boston and San Francisco encourage staff to work from home
Federal Reserve staff at the bank’s New York, San Francisco and Boston branches are being encouraged to work from home as part of efforts to slow the spread of the coronavirus, the banks said Wednesday.
The move has not been adopted by the Federal Reserve as a whole and appears to be focused on cities with a high concentration of coronavirus cases.
- Coronavirus raises fears of U.S. auto sales slowdown, but production not suffering yet
Fears of a U.S. sales slowdown in auto showrooms due to the coronavirus outbreak that has spread globally are appearing in analysts’ forecasts, but industry executives said the pandemic has yet to affect demand or factory production.
* Trump suspends all travel from Europe to the United States to fight coronavirus
U.S. President Donald Trump announced on Wednesday the United States will suspend all travel from Europe to the United States for 30 days starting on Friday in order to fight the coronavirus.
Trump said the travel restrictions do not apply to the United Kingdom.
· Dollar slides vs yen, Swiss franc as risk appetite plummets
The U.S. dollar dropped on Wednesday against the Japanese yen and Swiss franc, in line with the stock market’s plunge, as fears over the spreading coronavirus pushed investors into safe havens, even as sterling fluctuated between gains and losses after the Bank of England unexpectedly cut interest rates.
Central banks and governments around the world are scrambling to limit the economic damage of the coronavirus outbreak, which has sent stock markets into a tailspin as investors head for the safety of government bonds.
Investors were also disappointed as President Donald Trump made no major announcements on stimulus measures. Expectations that Trump will unveil a significant stimulus plan had bolstered risk appetite on Tuesday and prompted investors to temporarily move away from safer assets.
Trump did say on Tuesday he would ask Congress for a payroll tax cut and other “very major” stimulus moves, but the details remained unclear.
Trump on Wednesday again sought to calm fears about the fast-spreading coronavirus and said on Twitter he would use all government resources necessary to combat it. He gave no further details.
Sterling earlier rebounded on the BoE’s 50 basis-point rate cut, as the move including actions to support bank borrowings, reassured investors.
But the pound eventually fell, tracking the drop in stocks and risk appetite overall, sliding 0.6% to $1.2835 GBP=D3.
The dollar was down sharply against the safe-haven yen and Swiss franc. It lost 0.9% to 104.72 yen JPY=, falling more than a full yen from Tuesday's high of 105.915.
The euro was little changed against the dollar at $1.1274 EUR=.
Against a basket of currencies, the dollar was up 0.2% at 96.517 =USD.
· Oil drops 4% after Saudi Aramco asked to raise output capacity
Oil prices fell on Wednesday, giving up earlier gains, after Saudi Aramco said it had been directed by the energy ministry to raise its production capacity by a million barrels per day.
Brent crude slid $1.27, or 3.4%, to trade at $35.95 per barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude dropped $1.38, or 4.02%, to settle at $32.98 per barrel.
Saudi Aramco Chief Executive Amin Nasser said the state-run oil giant had been asked by the Ministry of Energy to boost its production capacity to 13 million barrels per day (bpd) from 12 million bpd now.
Saudi has been pumping around 9.7 million bpd in the past few months, but has extra capacity it can turn on and has hundreds of millions of barrels of crude in storage.
Oil prices had climbed earlier in the day, recouping nearly half of Monday’s 25% losses, on hopes spending cuts by North American producers to cope with multi-year low crude prices would lead to a drop in output.
Reference: CNBC, Reuters
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