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Weekly News Summary for January 24-30, 2020

Friday, January 24, 2020: Coronavirus Pose Risk on China’s Growth

The death toll from China’s coronavirus grew to 25. Confirmed cases rose to 830, according to the government on Friday.

The outbreak has now spread in 32 of the 34 Chinese provinces, while 10 cities have employed restrictions on travel, and Standard & Poor’s rating group expecting that a severe epidemic could weaken the country’s growth as much as 1.2 percentage points this year.

Monday, January 27, 2020: Oil Prices Down on China Virus Concerns

Oil prices extended losses on Monday, as concerns over the continued spread of the coronavirus hit demand.

US WTI crude futures dropped 3.8% to a 3-1/2-month low of $52.15 a barrel. While Brent crude oil futures shed more than 3% to also hit a 3-1/2-month low of $58.68 a barrel.

Tuesday, January 28, 2020: EUR/CHF Hits 33-month Low on Coronavirus Fears

Fears over a potential economic fallout due to China’s epidemic continued to weigh on markets, with the euro hitting 33-month lows against the Swiss franc on Tuesday.

The pair, highly correlated to risk sentiment, was down by 0.14% to 1.06 francs per euro. This marked its lowest since April 2017 and was set for its largest monthly decline since April 2019.

Wednesday, January 29, 2020: Fed Leaves Rates Unchanged on Sluggish Inflation

The Federal Reserve kept rates unchanged on Wednesday, as the US’ slow inflation growth and solid labor market barely made an impact on the central bank’s economic outlook.

The Fed held its benchmark rate steady in the range of 1.5% to 1.75%. The central bank stated that the current monetary policy is appropriate to support the sustained expansion of economic activity, strong labor market conditions, and inflation returning to the committee’s symmetric 2% target.

Thursday, January 30, 2020: Asian Stocks Near Seven-week Low on Virus Concerns

Asian stocks were down to a nearly seven-week low on Thursday. This as the death toll from China’s coronavirus continued to grow. As time goes on, more cases surface around the world.

MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan dropped 1.7% to an almost seven-week low, while Japan’s Nikkei fell by 2%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index also shed 1.7%, and Taiwan’s benchmark index lost 4.9% and was on track to post its largest daily decline in 15 months.



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