Weekly news summary for January 15 to January 21
Friday, Jan. 15, 2021: Biden’s Stimulus Plans Fail to Fuel Global Stocks
US President-elect Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion stimulus proposal failed to encourage global stock markets on Friday, with Euro Stoxx 50 and the Nikkei 225 both shedding 0.6%, while the CSI 300 index also dropped.
Biden’s relief package included a top-up of $1,400 in direct payments to struggling American households, aid for state and local governments, and other elements that Republicans aggressively opposed in the last session of Congress, but the measures may not receive approval simultaneously.
Monday, Jan. 18, 2021: China’s GDP Expands 6.5% in Q4 2020
China became the only major economy that stood strong last year as figures released on Monday showed its gross domestic product (GDP) improved 2.3% in 2020, exceeding 2.0% growth expectations, due to annualized expansion of 6.5% reached in the fourth quarter of the year.
The data was in turn driven by demand for Chinese products, already seen in last week’s record trade surplus, while industrial production growth gained momentum to 7.3% from November’s 7.0%, although retails sales growth slowed to 4.6% from 5.0%.
Tuesday, Jan. 19, 2021: IEA Cuts 2021 Oil Demand Forecasts
The International Energy Agency (IEA) trimmed its 2021 oil demand forecasts, signaling a weaker-than-expected consumption in the early part of this year due to rising COVID-19 cases and renewed lockdown measures, which will further curb activity.
The IEA stated that it expects global oil demand to grow by 5.45 million barrels per day (BPD) to 96.6 million BPD this 2021, reflecting a downward revision of 300,000 barrels from its December forecasts.
Wednesday, Jan. 20, 2021: Netflix Shares Climb as it Tops 200M Subscribers
Shares of streaming giant Netflix Inc. climbed in after-hours trading on Wednesday, after the company’s net addition of more than 37 million subscribers over the course of 2020 increased its total paying subscribers above 200 million for the first time by the end of December.
The news pushed Netflix’s stock over 12%, driven mainly by the information about its cash flow now covering its spending needs, while revenue was up around 20% from a year earlier, surpassing forecasts, although net profit fell below expectations.
Thursday, Jan. 21, 2021: Asian Stocks Post Fresh Highs on Stimulus Hopes
Asian stocks posted fresh record highs on Thursday, following new record highs on the US markets, as investors expect more economic stimulus from newly inaugurated US President Joe Biden to offset the weakness triggered by the pandemic.
China’s blue-chips soared 1.2%, Australian equities gained 0.69%, and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose past 30,000, climbing 0.31%, while Japan’s Nikkei surged 0.72%, 1% short from the three-decade highs booked in the previous week.
