Month: February 2020

(Bloomberg Opinion) — Global markets have entered the meltdown stage, accelerating in the past few days beyond a relatively orderly stock-market correction. With coronavirus cases now on all continents this is no longer a domestic China problem; that suddenly dawned on complacent investors after last weekend’s big outbreak in Italy.Hence the stampede to get into cash as lockdowns and states of emergency have multiplied, from Lombardy to Japan’s northern island of Hokkaido. Any attempt by the stock markets to bounce is just being seen as an opportunity to offload more shares. This is a catch-up effect and is starting to …read more […]

(Bloomberg) — China is slowly starting to get back to work, as it battles the coronavirus outbreak that has killed more than 2,600 people and sickened tens of thousands.Government controls and the fear of going outside have curtailed spending, and many factories are still not working at full capacity due to a lack of staff, with workers still in their hometowns or spending two weeks in quarantine.However, activity seems to be picking up, with the economy likely running at 60% to 70% capacity this week, according to a Bloomberg Economics report, up from about 50% two weeks ago. The following …read more […]

(Bloomberg) — The chemical industry became the latest sector to be hit by the coronavirus after German giant BASF SE warned the outbreak could lead to the lowest growth in production since the financial crisis more than a decade ago.The slump in demand may see the supplier of plastics and additives slide to a second straight year of falling profit, BASF said in a statement on Friday. The epidemic will have a significant impact worldwide, particularly in the first and second quarters, which won’t be fully offset during the remainder of the year.The setback comes at a time that BASF …read more […]

(Bloomberg) — Commodities were punished in an across-the-board sell-off as investors took fright at the coronavirus crisis, with energy, metals and agricultural raw materials driven lower. Even gold, a traditional haven asset, took a hit.The stampede away from risk assets trampled oil, copper, iron and palm oil, with no appetite for dip-buying before the weekend. Bullion’s drop stoked speculation investors needed funds to meet margin calls in equity markets, which were tanking on a welter of negative headlines about the disease.The widespread losses, coinciding with the slide in equities, signal rising fears that demand for commodities will be crushed as …read more […]

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