Weekly news summary for April 23 to 29, 2021
Friday, April 23, 2021: Oil Prices Fall to Their Lowest in a Week
Oil prices declined to their lowest in a week on Friday after India, one of the world’s largest oil importers, recorded the highest single-day increase of new COVID-19 infections.
The US West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures dropped 0.5% to $61.03 per barrel, while Brent crude oil futures shed 0.6% to $64.96 per barrel.
Monday, April 26, 2021: India Reports Record New COVID-19 Cases
India’s COVID-19 crisis continued as it reported new cases for the fifth straight day as a nationwide increase in the virus overwhelmed the country’s healthcare segment that is facing a shortage in resources.
India recorded more than 350,000 new infections and 2,812 deaths on Monday, and several analysts saw both numbers were considerably under-reported, particularly in the poorer rural areas, while reports of hospitals not having enough oxygen for patients in intensive care had grown.
Tuesday, April 27, 2021: Palladium Registers New Record High
Palladium futures climbed to a new record high of $2,951 per ounce on Tuesday, as the precious metal reacted to demand from a growing automotive sector that, as suggested by Tesla Inc.’s sales of regulatory credits, still needs to ramp up efforts on reducing emissions.
Copper futures also reached a new 10-year high, another indirect proof of the thriving electric vehicle (EV) industry, while US soybeans futures and US corn futures both gained over 3.5% overnight.
Wednesday, April 28, 2021: Alphabet Posts Better Q1 Earnings, Revenue Up 34%
Alphabet Inc. reported better-than-expected figures for the first quarter of 2021 and announced a new $50-billion buyback program, which led its shares to gain more than 4% in after-hours trading.
The company brought in earnings of $26.29 per share, while its revenue rose 34% to $55 billion in the quarter, with $31 billion of it generated by its signature Google products, search, maps, and YouTube.
Thursday, April 29, 2021: US Dollar Trades Near Lows on Fed’s Dovish Stance
The US dollar was mostly unchanged on Thursday, trading close to multi-week lows after the Federal Reserve kept the benchmark interest rate near zero, which raised optimism over global economic recovery.
The US dollar index was flat at $90.610 against a basket of six major currencies, not far from a nine-week low, while the euro shed 0.1% to 1.2119 against the greenback and the dollar added 0.2% to 108.78 against the Japanese yen.
