Stocks Start Week With Declines; Crude Oil Rises: Markets Wrap
Global markets started the week cautiously as a new earnings season begins. Uncertainty on the corporate impact of COVID-19 weighs heavily on companies. Meanwhile, oil prices pared gains following the historic output cut deal over the weekend.
While futures dropped during early morning trade, treasuries steadied during trading in Asia. The US dollar fell after OPEC+ came to an agreement on cutting some 9.7 million barrels per day on crude oil output. The initial plan was to cut 10 million barrels a day.
What’s Next For COVID-19?
In other news, the yen advanced along with the euro to the highest level since early April. there are more than 60 new coronavirus vaccines in development across the world. Three are already being tested in Human Trials according to the World Health Organization.
With earnings season kicking off this week, investors will be hoping to get a sense of how bad the hit to global profits could be as the coronavirus upends the world’s economies. Without an effective therapy or a vaccine for the novel coronavirus, the U.S. economy could face 18 months of rolling shutdowns as the outbreak recedes and flares up again, Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis President Neel Kashkari said.
In focus this week:
U.S. banks and financial firms begin reporting first-quarter earnings, led by JPMorgan, Citigroup, Bank of America, BlackRock, Goldman Sachs and Wells Fargo. Bank Indonesia rate decision and briefing TuesdayBank of Canada has a rate decision WednesdayAlso Wednesday, U.S. retail sales are poised to fall in March by the most ever seenChina releases GDP, industrial production and retail sales and jobless figures Friday
