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Showing posts from April, 2020

Fed Firepower + Massive Job Losses = Weaker U.S. Dollar

By  Kathy Lien Forex 14 hours ago (Apr 09, 2020 05:31PM ET) There’s a lot to talk about today. Equities traded sharply higher on the back of another big announcement from the Fed. The  greenback  traded lower in response against all of the major currencies. The main focus today was  jobless claims , which gets as much attention these days as  non-farm payrolls  because they give investors the most up-to-date look at how the labor market is doing. According to the latest report, another 6.6 million Americans filed for unemployment benefits, 1.1 million more than estimated. Last week’s number was also revised higher giving us a total of 16.7 million Americans out of work in the last three weeks. These numbers only include people who were able to file their claims given the widespread reports of jammed hotlines to confirm their unemployment status. Continuing claims rose less than expected but at 7.5 million, these numbers doubled over the past week.     This staggering amount of

Oil price barrels ahead as OPEC flags meeting

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Friday, 03 Apr 2020 10:16 PM MYT HONG KONG/LONDON: The price of crude oil surged again Friday (April 4) after OPEC said it would talk to non-members, notably Russia, giving investors hope that they will stop a price war which has created market chaos along with crushed demand because of the Covid-19 (coronavirus) outbreak. Global stock markets fell following another set of devastating American employment numbers, gloomy eurozone services data and news that the number of declared Covid-19 infections had hit one million worldwide. The US economy shed 701,000 jobs in March amid the damage inflicted by the coronavirus shutdowns -- several times the market's consensus forecast, while the unemployment rate surged to 4.4 percent, the Labour Department reported on Friday. "The markets are digesting a larger-than-expected drop in March employment, which is likely to worsen on the heels of the past two weeks of spikes in jobless claims that approached the 10 million mark,&q

Coronavirus could trigger biggest fall in carbon emissions since World War Two

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Friday, 03 Apr 2020 1:44 PM MYT FILE PHOTO: British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and David Attenborough speak with school children during a conference about the UK-hosted COP26 UN Climate Summit, at the Science Museum in London, Britain February 4, 2020. Chris J Ratcliffe/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo LONDON/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Carbon dioxide emissions could fall by the largest amount since World War Two this year as the coronavirus outbreak brings economies to a virtual standstill, according to the chair of a network of scientists providing benchmark emissions data. Rob Jackson, who chairs the Global Carbon Project, which produces widely-watched annual emissions estimates, said carbon output could fall by more than 5% year-on-year -- the first dip since a 1.4% reduction after the 2008 financial crisis. "I wouldn't be shocked to see a 5% or more drop in carbon dioxide emissions this year, something not seen since the end of World War Two," Jackson, a

Oil jumps as Trump talks up truce hopes for Saudi-Russia price war(Update 2)

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Thursday, 02 Apr 2020 7:04 AM MYT Brent crude futures rose 5.9%, or US$1.46, to $26.20 as of 0418 GMT (1218 Malaysian time), while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude  futures were up 4.6% or 94 cents, at $21.25. (File pic shows oil Philips oil storage tanks in Linden, New Jersy, US.) SINGAPORE: Crude oil futures surged on Thursday after U.S. President Donald Trump said he expected Saudi Arabia and Russia to reach a deal soon to end their oil price war and Russian President Vladimir Putin called for a solution to "challenging" oil markets. Brent crude futures rose 5.9%, or US$1.46, to $26.20 as of 0418 GMT (1218 Malaysian time), while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were up 4.6% or 94 cents, at $21.25. Trump said he had talked recently with the leaders of both Russia and Saudi Arabia and believed the two countries would make a deal to end their price war within a "few days" - lowering production and bringing prices back up.