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CORONAVIRUS CRISIS:

Total confirmed cases: More than 2,645,784

Total deaths: At least 184,327

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.

US cases: At least 849,092 (+375) and deaths: 47,681 (+22)

Spain cases: At least 208,389 and deaths: 21,717

Italy cases: At least 187,327 and deaths: 25,085

Thailand cases: At least 2,839 (+13) and deaths: 50 (+1)

 

- Nearly 50 crew members on an Italian cruise ship docked for repairs in Japan’s Nagasaki have tested positive for the new coronavirus, raising concern about the strain on the city’s hospitals if conditions worsen for those infected.

-  The world should look to South Korea’s handling of the coronavirus outbreak as a way to emerge from the pandemic without severely affecting economic growth, one economist told CNBC on Thursday.

South Korea saw an implosion of cases starting late February when the flu-like disease spread rapidly among members of a religious group. By mid-April, daily reported cases of infection fell well below 100. The country embarked on mass testing efforts and strict social isolation measures but didn’t totally shut down businesses.

As a result, it managed to contain the virus outbreak without suppressing economic activities, said Trinh Nguyen, a senior economist at French investment bank Natixis.

 

·       The dollar erased gains and fell against the currencies of oil producers on Thursday, as a rebound in crude prices after an unprecedented collapse helped to calm markets unnerved by the massive coronavirus-led drop in global demand.

The euro held steady against the greenback and the pound ahead of a meeting of European Union officials on the bloc’s response to the economic turmoil caused by the global coronavirus pandemic.

It may take EU countries until the summer or even longer to agree on how exactly to finance aid to help economies recover as major disagreements persist, a bloc official said on Wednesday.

The greenback fell 0.8% to 75.38 Russian rubles on Thursday.

The U.S. dollar edged lower against the Canadian dollar to C$1.4134 following a 0.3% decline on Wednesday.

Ahead of the outcome of the meeting, the euro held steady at $1.0828. Against the pound, the common currency was little changed at 87.62 pence.

The dollar was little changed versus the yen as the pair remains stuck in a holding pattern.

The greenback last traded at 107.78 yen.

 

·       EUR/USD Forecast: Dollar eases, but upside remains capped

EUR/USD short-term technical outlook

The EUR/USD pair is trading between Fibonacci levels, neutral in the short-term. The 4-hour chart shows that it is hovering around a flat 20 SMA while below the larger ones, as technical indicators continue to seesaw around their midlines, without certain directional strength. Buying interest is defending the downside on approaches to the 1.0800 figure, with stops suspected around 1.0790.

Support levels: 1.0830 1.0790 1.0750

Resistance levels: 1.0865 1.0890 1.0925

 

·       “Looking ahead, we expect the contraction in growth to deepen in Q2, as global shutdowns will take a toll on exports,” Lloyd Chan, economist at Oxford Economics, wrote in a note following the data release. “In addition, although the rate of local infections has slowed, domestic demand will continue to decline due to very weak consumer and business sentiment, as well as rising unemployment.”

 

·       A record 26 million Americans likely sought unemployment benefits over the last five weeks, confirming that all the jobs created during the longest employment boom in U.S. history were wiped out in about a month as the novel coronavirus savages the economy.

Initial claims for state unemployment benefits probably totaled 4.2 million in the week ended April 18, according to a Reuters survey of economists. Still a figure that would have been seen as unimaginably high less than two months ago, it would be lower than the previous week’s 5.245 million. Estimates in the survey for Thursday’s data were as high as 5.50 million.

Based on the median forecast, last week’s claims data would bring the cumulative unemployment benefits claims to roughly 26.2 million since the week ending March 21, representing about 16% of the labor force. The economy created 22 million jobs during the employment boom which started in September 2010 and abruptly ended in February this year.

 

·       President Donald Trump signed an executive order Wednesday that will temporarily halt the issuance of certain green cards as he uses the coronavirus pandemic to push long-stalled immigration measures during an election year.

The 60-day pause, which Trump announced he had signed before his daily briefing Wednesday, leaves untouched the hundreds of thousands of temporary work visas the country issues each year. And it includes a long list of exemptions, including for those who are currently in the country and those seeking entry to work as physicians and nurses, as well as the spouses and minor children of American citizens.

 

·       European Union leaders will move on Thursday towards joint financing of a recovery after the coronavirus pandemic by asking the European Commission to propose a fund sufficiently big to target the most affected sectors and regions.

 

·       Euro zone business activity crashes to ‘shocking’ lows on coronavirus pandemic

Euro zone business activity hit another record low during April in another sign that the coronavirus pandemic is causing severe economic damage across the region.

The IHS Markit Purchasing Managers’ Index, which measures both the services industry and manufacturing, dropped to 13.5 in April, according to preliminary data. In March, the same index had already recorded its biggest ever single monthly drop to 29.7. A contraction in PMI figures — a figure below 50 — indicates a likely fall in economic growth overall.

Earlier in the session, Germany’s flash index came in at 17.1, a record low, versus a figure of 35.0 the month before. This was worse than analysts had been expecting with Phil Smith, principal economist at IHS Markit, saying it “paints a shocking picture of the pandemic’s impact on businesses.”

 

·       China is preparing to buy more than 30 million tonnes of crops for state stockpiles to help protect itself from supply chain disruptions due to the coronavirus pandemic and make good on pledges to buy more U.S. crops, three sources told Reuters.

China plans to add about 10 million tonnes of soybeans, 20 million tonnes of corn, and 1 million tonnes of cotton to its state reserves, said two of the sources who were briefed on the government plan.

The bulk of the crops would be imports, and mainly from the United States, as China works to fulfil its commitment under the Phase 1 trade deal signed in January, the sources said.

 

·       South Korea posts biggest economic decline since 2008

The coronavirus pandemic pushed South Korea’s economy into its biggest contraction since 2008 in the first quarter, as self-isolation hit consumption and kept businesses closed and global trade slumped.

Gross domestic product decreased by a seasonally adjusted 1.4% in the first quarter from three months earlier, the central bank said on Thursday, a slightly smaller decline than the 1.5% contraction seen in a Reuters survey and reversing 1.3% growth in the fourth quarter.

Highlighting the challenges in domestic demand, private consumption shrank 6.4% on-quarter to mark the worst reading since a 13.8% contraction in the first quarter of 1998, during the Asia Financial Crisis.

“The economy is likely to contract for at least another quarter as hard times will continue for exports,” Moon Jung-hui, an economist at KB Bank said.

“Consumption will improve especially on increased fiscal expenditure, but exports of key items including petrochemical products will suffer.”

 

·       Oil surged on Thursday amid signs that producers are cutting production to weather a collapse in demand as the coronavirus outbreak ravages world economies, while the U.S. state of Oklahoma also moved to help oil firms pump less.

Analysts warned the rise could be temporary as storage tanks fill around the world, but prices recovered ground as investors reassessed the resiliance of the world’s economy amid the global health emergency.

Brent crude LCOc1 was up 99 cents, or 15%, at $21.36 a barrel by 0506 GMT after rising more than 5% on Wednesday.

U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures were up 98 cents, or more than 7%, at $14.76 a barrel, having risen around a fifth in the previous session. U.S. crude futures fell to below minus $40 on Monday on concerns that buyers were running out of storage space to take deliveries.

 

·       President Donald Trump warned on Wednesday that the United States would destroy Iranian gunboats that harass American ships at sea.

The threat, which contributed to a recovery in oil prices, came days after the Pentagon claimed that ships from Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy took “dangerous and provocative” actions near U.S. Navy and Coast Guard ships in the Persian Gulf.

Six U.S. military vessels were conducting training operations in international waters last week when 11 Iranian ships “crossed the bows and sterns of the U.S. vessels at extremely close range and high speeds,” according to the April 15 U.S. Navy statement.

 

·       According to the Associated Press, China, the world’s top oil consumer, is ramping up its crude oil stockpiles, taking advantage of the recent collapse in global oil prices.

The ruling Communist Party’s Political and Legal Commission said on its social media account, low oil prices “have a positive impact on China.”