World news
- The Reserve Bank of Australia left interest rates unchanged at a historic low of 0.25%.
- Philip Lowe, the governor, pledged to do whatever it takes to safeguard Australia's jobs.
- The central bank has provided more than $90 billion in stimulus to encourage lending to businesses
Features & analysis
Latest World news
The Coronavirus restrictions have brought the global travel and tourism industry to a near halt. Naturally, the impact on worldwide airlines is the strongest. In recent news, American Airlines Group (NASDAQ:AAL) announced on Friday that its international capacity will be slashed by 60% in the summer that is known to be the peak travel season. Following the announcement, American Airlines Group lost traction in the stock market and declined 7.9% i...
Dave & Buster’s Entertainment (NASDAQ:PLAY) released its quarterly performance results on Thursday that topped analysts’ estimates for earnings and revenue and sent the stock 12% higher in after-hours trading. The stock, however, had declined 6.1% earlier in the regular session. Closing at £8.20 per share on Thursday, the American restaurant and entertainment business was still around 75% down year to date in the stock market. Dave & Bust...
Kroger (NYSE:KR) said on Wednesday that it recorded a 30% increase in comparable sales in March as consumers continued panic buying amidst the Coronavirus pandemic that is pushing governments into nationwide lockdowns and restricting people to their homes. The grocer also highlighted that it borrowed £810 million to expand its cash reserve to withstand the economic blow of COVID-19. Due to the rising Coronavirus uncertainty, several of Kroger’s c...
PVH Corp. (NYSE:PVH) announced its quarterly financial results on Wednesday. Topping analysts’ estimates for profit, the stock was seen trading higher in extended trading on Wednesday. In after-hours trading on Wednesday, PVH climbed more than 7% in the stock market. At £27.84 per share at the time of writing, however, the Calvin-Klein’s parent company is still trading over 65% down year to date. The American clothing company has a market cap of...
In a statement on Wednesday, United States Federal Trade Commission announced to have lodged a complaint against Altria Group (NYSE:MO) seeking the Marlboro maker to sell the investment that it made in Juul Labs Inc. Juul is an American company that manufactures e-cigarettes. Altria had made a £10.34 billion investment in Juul to purchase a 35% stake in the company in December 2018. Owing to multiple write-downs in 2019, the investment is current...
The British multinational energy and services company, Centrica (LON:CNA) announced its 2019 dividends suspended on Thursday. The company also resorted to other measures aimed at cutting costs as it expected the UK consumers to defer payments for electricity bills amidst the ongoing Coronavirus lockdown. In the upcoming months, the company said, business usage is likely to see a steep decline. The rising uncertainty, according to Centrica, poses...
The Coronavirus driven curbs on traveling continue to hit the global airline industry. Prime Minister Boris Johnson had recently recommended the UK airlines to explore their options to raise funds and survive the pandemic before relying completely on the government aid. According to BBC’s report on Wednesday, however, British Airways is struggling to sustain its financial stature as it announced its plans of laying off 36,000 workers to cut costs...
The Institute for Supply Management (ISM) announced its monthly report on the U.S manufacturing purchasing managers’ index (PMI) on Wednesday. The data showed the activity in the manufacturing sector to have declined in March. The contraction, as per the ISM, was broadly attributed to the ongoing Coronavirus pandemic that has brought economic activity to a near halt. Wednesday’s data revealed the ISM manufacturing PMI at 49.1 in March. In Februar...
The euro declined amid some positive Coronavirus news from the European Union. In a report yesterday, the World Health Organization (WHO) said that the Coronavirus outbreak in the region was peaking. The announcement came as the number of new infections in key countries like Italy and Spain started to decline. Indeed, as shown below, the number of new cases in Italy has declined while the number of recoveries has surged. Still, the current lockdo...
The British pound index edged lower as investors started to worry about Coronavirus contagion risks after UK companies started going into administration. BrightHouse, a rent-to-own retailer went into administration a few hours after Italian restaurant, Carluccio’s filed for bankruptcy. The market is concerned that these bankruptcies will continue as the country remains in lockdown. This is because while most retailers are not operating, their cos...
U.S. crude oil briefly broke the psychologically sensitive $20 level today as demand projections crumpled on fears that the coronavirus could affect economies for much longer than expected. At the time of writing U.S. crude oil was trading at $20.46, down $1.18 or 5.53%, after having touched a low of $19.86. Demand concerns Crude is caught, on the one side, in a price war raging between Saudi Arabia and Russia, and on the other, a collapse in glo...
The Bank of Canada (BoC) resorted to another emergency rate cut this month announcing a reduction of 50 basis points in its key overnight rate on Friday. The BoC said it was the need of the hour considering the widespread impact of the Coronavirus pandemic on the financial system and the Canadian economy at large. In an emergency policy meeting held on Friday, Canadian lawmakers decided in favor of slashing the overnight interest rate from 0.75%...
The Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) released its quarterly report on the U.S GDP. The data showed a 2.1% growth in the U.S economy in 2019’s fourth quarter. According to economists, however, the U.S is now expected to take a few quarters before it posts economic growth again as the sharply rising cases of Coronavirus are likely to hit the U.S GDP hard in 2020. After the 3rd and final evaluation of Q4, the Commerce Department announced no change...
The U.S Department of Labor announced its weekly report on unemployment claims on Thursday. The data showed the jobless claims in the U.S to have climbed over 3 million last week. A sharp increase in unemployment stemmed from the Coronavirus pandemic that pushed businesses into shut down with many of them resorting to massive layoffs. The flu-like virus, as per economists, is likely to break America’s longest employment boom. The Labor Department...
UK’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) voted in favor of keeping the official bank rate steady at 0.10% on Thursday. The ongoing Coronavirus pandemic that pushed the government into ordering a countrywide lockdown to minimize the fast-transmission of COVID-19 is weighing heavily on the UK’s economy that is forecast to contract sharply this year. The Bank of England (BoE) said on Thursday that in order to protect the economy against the pandemic, it...
The United States Senate voted in favor of an unprecedented £1.69 trillion rescue package on Wednesday. The aid is expected to offer support to the massively hit industries amidst the Coronavirus pandemic and help families and unemployed workers to thrive through the challenging times. As per the bill, the U.S will also invest billions of dollars into purchasing medical equipment and meet the demand for effective response against the flu-like vir...
The UK’s Office for National Statistics released its monthly report on retail sales in February on Thursday. The data showed the British retail sector to have performed the weakest in around 7 years in February. Retailers expect an even steeper decline in March as the broader impact of Coronavirus appears in the data. The Statistics department had announced a 0.9% growth in January (year over year). Sales volumes in February, however, were report...