Tag Archives: Business

Oil prices climbed more than 2% on Wednesday on signs of improving demand and a drawdown in U.S. crude inventories, but gains were capped by worries over the economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic and weak refining margins. Brent crude futures LCoc1 were up 63 cents, or 1.8%, at $35.28 …

Facebook Inc is launching Facebook Shops, a service that will allow small businesses to display and sell their products on the social network’s platforms, Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg said on Tuesday.

The global economy will take much longer to recover fully from the shock caused by the new coronavirus than initially expected, the head of the International Monetary Fund said, and she stressed the danger of protectionism. Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said the Fund was likely to revise downward its forecast …

Enormous doses of stimulus spending are offering relief from coronavirus damage but their lifelong legacy of debt could seed future crises by hobbling economic growth and worsening poverty, especially in developing countries. Central banks and governments worldwide have unleashed at least $15 trillion of stimulus via bond-buying and budget spending …

Oil prices rose on Tuesday, after OPEC’s de facto leader, Saudi Arabia, said it would increase supply curbs in June, while other members of the oil-producing group said they want to extend the deep cuts reached in April for a longer period than originally agreed. OPEC and its allies, a …

The US Treasury secretary says the unemployment rate reported by the government is likely to get worse amid lockdown measures put in place due to the coronavirus pandemic. Steven Mnuchin made the comments on Sunday after the US Labor Department announced last week that the unemployment rate had surged to …

The UK economy is heading for its worst crash in more than 300 years because of the coronavirus pandemic, according to a new forecast from the Bank of England. The central bank said Thursday that the British economy could shrink by 14% this year. That would be the biggest annual …

Wall Street’s main stock indexes opened higher on Tuesday as oil prices staged a recovery and a slew of countries eased coronavirus-led restrictions in an attempt to revive economic activity. The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI rose 209.12 points, or 0.88%, at the open to 23,958.88. The S&P 500 .SPX …

The eurozone economy shrank at the sharpest pace on record in the first quarter as the Covid-19 pandemic forced countries into lockdown. The first estimate of GDP between January and March showed a contraction of 3.8%, worse than during the financial crisis. Separate figures revealed a steep fall in economic …

Wall Street looked set to jump at open on Wednesday after Gilead Sciences (GILD.O) reported an encouraging update on a potential COVID-19 treatment, while upbeat earnings reports from Google-parent Alphabet and Boeing boosted the mood. Gilead Sciences Inc (GILD.O) jumped 9.3% in premarket trading after the drugmaker said its experimental …

Oil prices fell on Tuesday with U.S. crude leading the decline, falling about 3% as domestic stockpiles were expected to have risen closer to record highs amid tightening storage despite plans to cut production. However, the markets were supported on hopes of demand recovering as across the world, governments announced …

The United States on Monday posted rule changes that impose new restrictions on exports to China, including on civil aircraft components and items related to semiconductors. The new rules will require licenses for U.S. companies to sell certain items to military entities in China even if they are for civilian …

New York could begin reopening some manufacturing and construction projects in the state on 15 May following stringent quarantine measures in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. That’s the expiration date for governor Andrew Cuomo’s statewide order that has shuttered nonessential business across New York as it became the global …

Stock markets struggled on Friday as hopes of quickly finding a treatment for coronavirus were dashed, analysts said, and more crushing economic data delivered a body blow to confidence. Reports said initial trials of the remdesivir coronavirus drug being developed by Gilead Sciences had flopped. Investors were “reacting badly” to …

A further 4.4 million Americans sought unemployment benefits last week as the economic toll from the coronavirus pandemic continued to mount. The new applications brought the total number of jobless claims since mid-March to 26.4 million. That amounts to more than 15% of the US workforce. However, the most recent …

US oil prices plunged into negative territory for the first time ever on Monday, meaning producers are willing to pay buyers to take crude off their hands. The price of America’s most closely watched oil benchmark crashed to as low as minus $40 a barrel, but how could this happen …

US oil prices dived to 22-year lows at just $11 Monday after crashing almost 40 percent in a market flooded with crude and slammed by evaporating demand in the face of the coronavirus pandemic. Just before 1200 GMT, the US benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude for May delivery tanked …

The World Bank Group (WBG) is expected to launch health emergency programs in over 100 countries by the end of April to support the fight against COVID-19, with 64 already in operation, President David Malpass said Friday. “In response to COVID-19, the World Bank Group has focused on taking fast, …

Unsurprisingly, yet soberingly, the European tourism sector is reeling. According to a recent UBS analysts’ note – which cited data from Planet, the VAT refund provider – tourist spending across Europe in March fell 68.4% year-on-year. “Chinese spend in Europe was down -84.6% y/y, with all other nationalities also declining …

U.S. Jobless Claims Top 20 Million Since Start of Shutdowns The US Labor Department reported that 5.245 million more Americans filed first-time claims for unemployment last week. The new numbers include independent contractors and others who previously were not eligible for benefits. That brings the total rise in US unemployment …