Weekly News Summary for April 17-23, 2020

Friday, April 17, 2020: China’s Q1 GDP Marks First Contraction in 28 Years

China’s economy contracted in the first quarter for the first time since 1992. This is while the country’s coronavirus lockdown halted manufacturing activity and spending.

Data released by the NBS on Friday showed China’s GDP weakened by 6.8% from the first quarter of 2019. It was down by 9.8% in seasonally adjusted terms from the last three months.

Monday, April 20, 2020: Oil Prices Fall Below $11 on Storage Concerns

Oil prices posted their largest one-day decline on Monday, slipping about 40% at one point. This is due to storage capacity around the world running short, prompting traders to leave futures positions.

With the May futures contract set to expire on Tuesday, WTI crude oil futures fell as low as $10.96 per barrel, a level not seen since 1998, while the June contract dropped 13% to $21.80 per barrel, whereas Brent crude oil futures lost 7.1% to $26.08 per barrel.

Tuesday, April 21, 2020: Oil Prices Rose Above Zero

Oil prices bounced back from zero on Tuesday, with the May crude futures contract falling to insignificance, as investors managed to roll futures positions into longer-dated contract.

The June futures contract, however, dropped 17.5% to $16.86 per barrel, although it was off a low of $11.89. Meanwhile, Brent crude oil futures for June delivery shed 14.6% to $21.89 per barrel.

Wednesday, April 22, 2020: US Senate Approves $484B Economic Support Bill

The US Senate has passed a $484 billion worth of new support measures. They hope this will help small businesses and hospitals affected by the COVID-19 pandemic as well as to broaden testing for the virus.

The bill, which will add $310 billion in a major loan program created to keep workers on small company payrolls, is now headed to the House and is expected to be approved by Thursday.

Thursday, April 23, 2020: US Unemployment Claims Likely to Rise by 4M

The US’ employment sector will be in focus before the bell, as weekly initial jobless figures are due to be revealed later in the day.

Unemployment claims are expected to rise by 4.2 million. This brings the overall count to more than 26 million in the last five weeks.