Markets
U.S. oil prices extend rally as virus worries ease
Russia flagged that its production would drop by around a fifth and Norway also said it would curb output. Shale producers and oil majors are also reducing production. Gasoline demand over the past four weeks remained down 44% from a year earlier, but the drawdown suggested consumption declines may be leveling off. [Full Article...]
U.S. scientists hail remdesivir drug trial, Fauci says it speeds up recovery
Gilead Sciences' remdesivir , one of the most highly anticipated drugs being tested against the new coronavirus , showed positive results in a large-scale USA government trial, the biotech company said Wednesday. It failed in trials against the Ebola virus and a smaller study, released last week by the World Health Organization, found limited effects among patients in Wuhan, China, where the il... [Full Article...]
Oops: Treasury asks public companies to return coronavirus loans
In the span of less than two weeks, some 1,660,000 loans had been allocated by nearly 5,000 lenders around the country. The SBA will resume accepting PPP loan applications on Monday at 10:30 a.m. As the wave of criticism grew this week, a few U.S. publicly traded companies, especially in the hospitality industry, began refusing PPP loans they were just awarded. [Full Article...]
'WE ARE NOT HAPPY': Trump blames China for coronavirus spread
Last week, Missouri attorney general Eric Schmitt announced that his office would sue China for damages to state residents. 'We're not happy with it'. "Attempts to shift the blame on China will not denigrate China's efforts in responding to the virus", Geng said. The spokesman's comments come as USA officials and lawmakers step up a rhetorical assault on Beijing, with both major parties issuin... [Full Article...]
COVID-19 KY | Gov. Beshear outlines phased reopening plan
Beshear said , "I would not be suggesting these if I did not think we could be doing them safely", but, if case numbers begin to climb again, "it's always subject to pause. Beshear's office originally said the state could not verify the identity on the application but after getting information from the newspaper, the state is working to resolve the claim. [Full Article...]
US GDP contracts 4.8% as recession starts amid Covid-19
However, the sharp contraction in the first quarter is just a beginning, many analysts say. The 4.8% drop is roughly a full percentage point worse than economists' estimates . The streets and sidewalks are empty in front of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in the Financial District of New York, the United States, on April 27, 2020. [Full Article...]
Coronavirus: Ontario set to release 'sector-specific' workplace reopening guidelines
On Monday, the province had experienced its third consecutive day of decreased new cases of the virus, however on Tuesday, new cases increased, with 525 new cases announced . This brings the total number of active cases in Northern Ontario to 52, following the recovery of 79 per cent of the 243 originally reported, and six deaths. [Full Article...]
Oil prices extend losses as coronavirus lockdown crushes global demand
Expectations on economic normalization rose after encouraging update on a clinical trial for USA biopharmaceutical company Gilead Sciences' experimental coronavirus treatment. "Oil trade will remain volatile, but any major relief rallies will likely be heavily sold into until the entire energy space starts delivering deeper production cuts", according to Edward Moya, another senior market analyst ... [Full Article...]