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LONDON — Oil prices slumped anew on Friday with Brent North Sea crude plumbing a 17-year low owing to massive oversupply as the coronavirus crisis paralyses global demand.

Around 14:35 GMT, Brent for May delivery was down 7.33 per cent from Thursday, at $24.41 a barrel. West Texas Intermediate fell 5.97 per cent to $21.25. 

Oil has tanked in recent weeks on the back of collapsing demand, as COVID-19 slams the brakes on economic activity and the world's appetite for energy.

Crude futures spiralled even lower this month after a fierce price war erupted between Riyadh and Moscow.

"The coronavirus pandemic is reducing oil demand," wrote analysts at the Wood Mackenzie research consultancy in a note to clients.

"The OPEC+ production restraint agreement fell apart on 6 March and Saudi Arabia is rapidly increasing supply.

"The result: Brent crude has plunged," they added.

Until recently, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and Russia had cooperated closely since 2016 to curb production, support prices and protect their precious revenues.

That all changed this month when Saudi Arabia launched a price war with Moscow, after OPEC and non-member Russia failed to clinch an output-cutting deal to curb the market impact of the deadly COVID-19 outbreak.

The perfect storm has sent oil prices collapsing to their lowest levels in almost two decades, while also stretching global crude storage capacity.

"With Saudi Arabia attempting to flood the oil market by ramping up production to counter Russia, oil prices have halved this month ... prompting countries to stockpile under the low prices," said Sun Global Investments head Mihir Kapadia.

"Oil stockpiles around the world climbed up as major refineries in core markets such as China were shutdown due to the pandemic. 

"According to industry reports oil storage levels globally have already reached 75 per cent of capacity, and continued stockpiling under closed demand would crash the prices to $10 in the coming months unless industrial activity restarts."

LONDON — US stocks shot higher at the opening bell on Thursday, brushing aside a record surge in unemployment benefit claims, as a massive stimulus plan advanced.

Meanwhile, European and leading Asian stock markets were back in the red as investors there once again focused on the devastating economic fallout the coronavirus pandemic is expected to wreak.

In one of the latest indications of that impact, the US Labor Department said first time unemployment claims soared to 3.3 million last week — the highest number ever recorded.

That compares to 281,000 first-time filers in the prior week and blows away the previous record of 695,000 set in October 1982.

"The key takeaway from the report is that it underscores for everyone how much worse the current economic situation is than anything else experienced in this modern age," said market analyst Patrick O'Hare at Briefing.com.

"In a counterintuitive way, then, this jarring initial claims report could be the headline that was needed to ensure the House moves just as quickly as it can to pass the fiscal stimulus bill," he said.

 The House of Representatives is expected to vote on an unprecedented $2-trillion stimulus package as early as Friday. The dollar was down sharply against its main rivals.

In Europe, stocks were lower.   In afternoon trading, London shares were down 1.8 per cent, while Frankfurt slid 1.7 per cent and Paris 1.6 per cent.

In Asia on Thursday, Tokyo's main stocks index ended down 4.5 per cent after surging by almost one fifth over the previous three days, while Hong Kong shed 0.7 per cent and Shanghai eased 0.6 per cent.  Singapore lost more than one per cent.

PARIS — The coronavirus pandemic will push Britain and the euro area into recession this year, with their economies expected to shrink by as much as two per cent, the international ratings agency S&P Global warned on Thursday.

"The eurozone and UK are facing recessions. We now expect GDP (gross domestic product) to fall around 2.0 per cent this year due to economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic," it wrote in a report.

The spread of COVID-19 has forced three billion people around the world into lockdown and economists say the restrictions could cause the most violent recession in recent history.

Central banks and governments have rolled out a wave of unprecedentedly large fiscal and monetary policy packages to shore up their economies.

To prevent a credit crunch, central banks have injected liquidity and cut rates to lower banks' refinancing costs and have implemented large asset purchase programmes.

S&P said a two-per cent recession for Britain and the eurozone would amount to a loss in real GDP of about 420 billion euros ($460 billion) in 2020, compared with its previous forecast from November 2019.

"We expect a gradual rebound of at least 3.0 per cent in 2021," the agency said.

S&P said that "swift and bold policy responses taken now are key to avoiding permanent losses to GDP later."

  Downside risks

"Risks are still to the downside, as the pandemic might last longer and be more widespread than we currently envisage. For example, we estimate a lockdown of four months could lower eurozone GDP by up to 10 per cent this year," it said.

Looking at individual countries, S&P is pencilling in economic contraction of 2.6 per cent for Italy, the hardest-hit country by the pandemic, and Spain's economy is expected to shrink by 2.1 per cent.

The agency is forecasting a 1.9-per cent contraction in GDP for both Germany and Britain and 1.7 per cent for France.

In Paris, the national statistics office Insee said the confinement measures imposed in France so far had cut economic activity by about 35 per cent, but that it was still too early to provide a firm estimate on French economic growth in the coming months.

On Wednesday, another ratings agency, Moody's, had forecast that the world's 20 most industrialised countries would likely suffer a recession this year because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

It estimated that the G-20's overall GDP would contract by 0.5 per cent, with the US economy shrinking by 2 per cent and the eurozone by 2.2 per cent.

China, however, despite suffering an outbreak of the novel coronavirus before everyone else, could see economic activity expand by 3.3 per cent, a level that is nonetheless well below average for the world's second biggest economy.

G-20 leaders were scheduled to hold an online summit Thursday after criticism the group has been slow to address the crisis.

Banking woes

Separately, Moody's said it was downgrading its outlook for the banking sectors of six European countries in the light of the economic fallout from COVID-19.

Moody's said that it had cut the outlook for banks in France, Italy, Spain, Denmark, the Netherlands and Belgium from "stable" to "negative".

And it was also maintaining its "negative" outlook for the banking sectors of Germany and Britain.

Only in Switzerland and in Sweden was the outlook "stable", Moody's said.

"The changes reflect Moody's expectation that the spread of the coronavirus in Europe, which has resulted in widespread business closures and restrictions on social interactions, will hit economic activity this year," it said.

"Within this environment, banks' problem loans will increase, while higher loan loss provisions will reduce banks' profitability, which is already low compared to global peers."

Nonetheless, "in most banking systems, liquidity is strong and capital buffers are substantial, providing a solid base to absorb unexpected losses," Moody's noted.

 SINGAPORE — Oil prices rallied in Asia on Wednesday on signs the US Congress was nearing an agreement on a massive stimulus package to help the  American economy, tracking record Wall Street gains.

International benchmark Brent crude was up 2.9 per cent to trade at nearly $28 per barrel, while US benchmark West Texas Intermediate rose 3.5 per cent to nearly $25 per barrel.

Both contracts have hit multi-year lows in recent weeks as lockdowns and travel restrictions to fight the virus hit demand, and with top producers Saudi Arabia and Russia engaged in a price war.

Wednesday's gains came after the Dow surged 11.4 per cent, its biggest one-day percentage increase since 1933, on indications Congress is nearing agreement on a rescue package for the US economy that could amount to more than $2 trillion.

Markets were also cheered by the G-7's promise to do "whatever is necessary", and the Fed's announcement Monday that it would inject unlimited money into the financial system and serve as the lender of last resort for troubled sectors.

But analysts warned the gains could be short-lived.

"The canary in the coal mine is chirping," said AxiCorp chief markets strategist Stephen Innes, adding there was an "absence of demand amid rapidly rising physical inventories".

LONDON — A global stocks rally petered out Wednesday as Europe took up the baton, despite US lawmakers agreeing a mammoth stimulus package to help the world's biggest economy resist effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.

After huge gains for equities on Tuesday, which continued into Wednesday with Tokyo soaring and European indices jumping at the open, London lost some of its gains and Frankfurt was in the red nearing the half-way stage.

Elsewhere, the dollar was lower against main rivals and oil prices retreated.

"The stimulus is now by and large in place, the question is whether it's enough for the markets or whether the expected spike in cases and deaths in the US and Europe, combined with the emerging picture of the economic damage, means we need to take another leg lower before the bottom is found," said Neil Wilson, chief market analyst at trading group Markets.com. 

While COVID-19 continues to spread, traders have a rare semblance of optimism after weeks of carnage across global markets, with eyes fixed on Washington where lawmakers thrashed out an emergency bill worth as much as $2 trillion -- around 10 per cent of US gross domestic product.

"At last, we have a deal," Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said, calling it a "wartime level of investment into our nation".

"We have a bipartisan agreement on the largest rescue package in American history," top Senate Democrat Chuck Schumer said shortly after McConnell spoke.

"So many people are being put out of work through no fault of their own. They don't know what their future is going to be like, how are they going to pay the bills," Schumer noted.

"Well, we come to their rescue."

The measure will put cash directly into the hands of Americans, provides grants to small businesses and hundreds of billions of dollars in loans for corporations including embattled airlines, while expanding unemployment benefits.

The prospect of a massive spending splurge, combined with the Federal Reserve's pledge to essentially print as much cash is needed, sent Wall Street into overdrive Tuesday, with the Dow seeing its biggest rise since 1933, while the S&P 500 enjoyed its best day in more than a decade.

The gains then spread to Asia, which rallied for a second straight day, with extra impetus later in the day coming from the news out of Washington.

Tokyo ended eight per cent higher, with investors also relieved that the 2020 Olympics had been postponed rather than cancelled.

Hong Kong rose 3.8 per cent, Shanghai was up more than two per cent, while Singapore, Sydney and Manila rallied more than five per cent and Seoul piled on more than four per cent. 

Adding to the more upbeat mood was the G7's promise to do "whatever is necessary". 

The unprecedented moves are part of a worldwide response to the rapid financial shock caused by the novel coronavirus outbreak, which has locked down countries including the US and brought the global economy to a juddering halt.

"The Senate's approval of the $2 trillion package should provide a positive lift to investors' mood in the near term, complementing the US Federal Reserve's aggressive action in the past four weeks," said Tai Hui at JP Morgan Asset Management. 

"This is particularly important given the aggressive fiscal stimulus from European and Asian governments in the past two weeks. The US government needs to be seen as not just counting on the Fed to do all the heavy lifting."

Hopes for the US deal and the Fed's promise to ramp up its bond-buying also sent the dollar lower, a relief to investors as demand for the unit had seen it soar against peers, including a 35-year high against the pound.

The crude market -- which has been hammered by the outbreak's impact on demand as well as a price war between Saudi Arabia and Russia — also enjoyed a much-needed lift, though analysts cautioned the commodity still faced uncertainty.

LONDON — World stock and oil markets rallied on Tuesday after the US Federal Reserve (Fed) launched an unprecedented bond-buying plan, the latest salvo in a global fightback against the fallout from the deadly coronavirus outbreak.

European equities charged higher as investors shrugged off grim survey data showing collapsing eurozone and UK business activity in March.

 The dollar beat a retreat from Monday's three-year peak against the euro on the Fed news. In turn, that lifted crude oil prices which have been battered in recent weeks as coronavirus saps demand.

London stocks won more support after Britain became the latest western nation to implement a nationwide lockdown to help curb the spread of COVID-19.

"Stock markets in Europe are higher... as traders picked up the bullish baton from the indices in Asia," said CMC Markets UK analyst David Madden, who also noted that traders had been expecting the "brutal" survey data.

"The Fed's open-ended stimulus scheme, and the talk that Germany and the United States are getting closer to announcing rescue packages of their own is adding to the bullish sentiment.

"Political fighting in the US has prevented a stimulus scheme from being revealed earlier, but dealers are optimistic nonetheless."

US senators remain gridlocked, with Democrats on Monday again blocking a nearly $2 trillion rescue package for the economy.

While much of the planet goes into lockdown, traders gave a massive thumbs up to the US central bank's pledge to essentially print money in a move not seen since the global financial crisis more than a decade ago.

The Fed, which has already slashed interest rates to record lows, said it will buy unlimited amounts of Treasury debt and take steps to lend directly to small- and medium-sized firms hammered by restrictions across the country.

The plan however failed to inspire US traders, with all three main indexes on Wall Street sliding, but equities in Asia rallied with Tokyo ending more than seven per cent higher.

The Nikkei was given extra lift by a Bank of Japan decision to embark on its own massive bond-buying scheme.

 AxiCorp's Stephen Innes called the Fed's move "the most significant monetary experiment in the history of financial markets".

 "Asian investors like what they see from an all-in Fed, which is being viewed in a very impressive light for both Main and Wall Street, even as the US congress dithers."

The weaker dollar also helped lift crude, which has been hammered to recent multi-year lows on the back of a price war between producers Saudi Arabia and Russia.

"Oil is only rallying because the Fed's unprecedented measures finally stopped the stronger dollar," said OANDA analyst Edward Moya.

"Crude prices will have wild swings, but no one is expecting the bottom to be already in place."

PARIS — French Agriculture Minister Didier Guillaume appealed on Tuesday for people laid off amid the coronavirus lockdown to help beleaguered crop and livestock farmers who are in need of labourers as summer approaches.

"There are 200,000 jobs possible across the agriculture sector today," in large part because seasonal workers who usually come from Spain or Eastern Europe can no longer enter the country, Guillaume told BFM television.

Farmers say the need for able bodies is urgent as the first harvests loom for asparagus, strawberries and other early-season produce.

"I'm issuing a call to the women and men who are not working, who are confined to their homes, the waiter, the hotel receptionist, the barber in my neighbourhood, whose businesses are closed... and I ask them to join France's great agricultural army," he said.

 He said they would have proper full-time contracts, though it was unclear how people would be able to find the available jobs and eventually receive authorisation to travel -- state unemployment offices have halted walk-in appointments during the lockdown.

"We'll see how we'll be able to make things work," Guillaume said.

Restaurants, hotels and retailers across the country have shut down, hammering the French economy just as the crucial summer tourism season begins.

The country's tourism sector could lose up to 40 billion euros ($43.3 billion) if the crisis lasts three months, junior foreign minister Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne told Sud Radio on Tuesday.

Last year, foreign visitors spent 58 billion euros in the country, while French vacationers added an additional 110 billion euros.

Lemoyne had warned earlier this month that around 10 billion euros of tourist spending would evaporate in the first four months of this year, which began amid a crippling transport strike by rail workers protesting a pensions overhaul.

BRUSSELS — Businesses in the eurozone suffered "an unprecedented collapse" in March because of the novel coronavirus pandemic, according to a closely watched indicator released on Tuesday by IHS Markit.

Provisional data showed the slump in activity in the 19-nation zone in March "far exceeding that seen even at the height of the global financial crisis," with the company's PMI survey diving to 31.4.

A reading below 50 points indicates a contraction. In February, the index had stood at 51.6. The latest reading for March is the lowest since IHS Markit started its PMI survey in 1998.

The indicator reflected a near-shutdown of eurozone economies as COVID-19 sweeps across Europe.

Major economies Italy, France, Germany and Spain are all deeply affected and have implemented severe social and business restrictions to try to slow the virus's spread, by keeping potential carriers at home.

 The eurozone's economic struggle was worsened by some EU member states closing off their borders to neighbours, limiting the flow of goods and people within the single market.

Pessimism over year ahead

EU countries are starting to deploy massive state spending and loan guarantees to prop up businesses and employment, with the EU dropping its strict rules on budget deficits.

The IHS Markit survey showed the services sector was pummelled the worst, sliding to well below where it was at during the 2009 global financial crisis.

Manufacturing was also hit, supply chains were being badly degraded, and there was "a record fall in export business as cross-border trade flows seized up".

Employees are being let go at the fastest rate since June 2009.

"Expectations of future output also deteriorated markedly to reach an all-time low, with record degrees of pessimism about the year ahead seen in both manufacturing and services," IHS Markit said. 

"Clearly there's scope for the downturn to intensify further as even more draconian policies to deal with the virus are potentially implemented in coming months," chief economist Chris Williamson said.

Economic analysis firm Capital Economics said the PMI collapse was "so sharp that at any other time it would look like a spreadsheet error".

It agreed that "April's data could be even worse" and pointed to the eurozone's 2020 first-quarter GDP plunging by at least three per cent compared with the last three months of 2019.

"That would be similar to the sharpest quarterly fall in GDP during the global financial crisis," it said.

The startlingly bad PMI indicator heaped more pressure on eurozone finance ministers who were to meet via videolink later Tuesday to consider coordinated ways to blunt economic fall-out from the pandemic.

'Ground to a halt'

Analysts at bank ING said the IHS Markit survey "paints a picture of an economy that has ground to a halt".

But while it demonstrated the wide and sudden impact of the coronavirus, it "doesn't tell us much about the depth of the decline".

ING added: "It's still anyone's guess how deep this actually is.

 "The question is how much policy makers can soften the blow. Perhaps most relevant is how much unemployment and bankruptcies can be avoided to determine the possible steepness of a recovery."

PARIS —  European aviation giant Airbus said on Monday it would cancel the planned dividend payment for 2019 and also abandon its earnings forecasts for the current year because of economic uncertainty.

"We have withdrawn our 2020 guidance due to the volatility of the situation," Airbus chief executive Guillaume Faury said in a statement.

As part of measures to bolster the group's liquidity and balance sheet in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Airbus would also "withdraw the 2019 dividend proposal of 1.80 euros per share with an overall cash value of approximately 1.4 billion euros" ($1.5 billion), the statement said.

"Our first priority is protecting people while supporting efforts globally to curb the spread of the coronavirus," Faury said.

 "We are also safeguarding our business to protect the future of Airbus and to ensure we can return to efficient operations once the situation recovers."

Faury said he was convinced that Airbus and the broader aerospace sector will overcome this critical period."

To ensure Airbus's financial flexibility, the board of directors had agreed to secure a new credit facility amounting to 15 billion euros, in addition to the existing 3.0-billion-euro revolving credit facility, the statement continued.

With these decisions, Airbus would have "significant liquidity available to cope with additional cash requirements related to the coronavirus. Available liquidity now amounts to approximately 30 billion euros."

Airbus said the measures were intended to "secure business continuity for itself even in a protracted crisis."

Airbus is scheduled to hold its annual shareholders meeting in Amsterdam on April 16, but was discouraging physical attendance due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The group had already announced on Sunday that it planned to partially resume production and assembly work at its plants in France and Spain following four days of health and security checks.

 In 2019, Airbus, which employs a global workforce of 135,000, generated revenues of around 70 billion euros. 

LONDON — Stock markets suffered a further hammering on Monday despite massive economic stimulus efforts worldwide, with investors spooked by a mounting death toll from the coronavirus pandemic.

The negative mood was fuelled by the failure of US lawmakers to agree on a trillion-dollar emergency package to help the reeling American economy, analysts said.

European equities tanked four per cent at the open before trimming some losses -- but still remained deep in the red in late morning deals and following heavy losses across Asia.

The dollar scaled to a three-year pinnacle against the euro as investors shunning risky equities flocked to the haven greenback.

On oil markets, Brent North Sea crude sank 4.6 per cent and West Texas Intermediate was down 0.8 per cent.

Oil has plunged in recent weeks to multi-year lows, mainly on slumping demand caused by the virus -- but also because of a price war between top producers Saudi Arabia and Russia.

 'Mammoth recession'

 "Markets are again showing stress on fears that the economic damage will be worse than anticipated and that the response by governments and central banks will not be enough to prevent a mammoth recession," said analyst Neil Wilson at trading site Markets.com.

"James Bullard, President of the St Louis Fed, said US unemployment could reach 30 per cent in the second quarter due to coronavirus shutdowns, while he warned that gross domestic product (GDP) could decline by 50 per cent. This would be an unprecedented event."

The global death toll from the virus has surged past 14,400, with nearly a billion people confined and non-essential businesses shut in dozens of countries and growing fears about a recession.

  "A leap in the global death toll led by Italy from the coronavirus coupled with a failed stimulus vote in the United States saw markets rocked at the start of the week," said London Capital Group analyst Jasper Lawler.

The European single currency meanwhile sank to $1.0636, a level last seen in April 2017.

"In times like these cash is king and the dollar is king of cash," added Lawler.

In the Asia-Pacific region, Wellington stocks nosedived 7.6 per cent as New Zealand announced a four-week lockdown to stop the spread of the coronavirus.

Hong Kong ended the day down 4.9 per cent, Sydney dropped 5.6 per cent and Shanghai shed 3.1 per cent.

Tokyo was the exception, closing two per cent higher as a cheaper yen against the dollar boosted shares in Japanese exporters.

Market watchers are trying to figure out just how severe the impact of the pandemic will be on the global economy, with social distancing measures and lockdowns dealing serious blows to many industries.

Airlines hit hard

Airlines have been hit particularly hard, with isolation measures shutting down routes and grounding fleets worldwide.

Long-haul giant Emirates announced a two-week suspension of all its passenger flights, following a UAE government directive.

Singapore Airlines said it would ground most of its fleet until the end of April. The carrier said it was facing the greatest challenge in its existence.

Elsewhere, Anglo-Dutch energy major Royal Dutch Shell -- which has been rocked by collapsing oil prices -- announced it was cutting spending and costs by billions of dollars, as well as suspending its share buyback plans.

US failure

US senators failed to agree on a trillion-dollar proposal to rescue the American economy on Sunday, as Democrats said the Republican plan failed to provide sufficient protection to millions of workers or shore up the critically under-equipped healthcare system.

The bill proposed an estimated $1.7 trillion or more in funding to cushion the blow from the pandemic for American families and thousands of shuttered or suffering businesses.