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LONDON — World stock markets mostly tumbled and oil prices plunged on Monday despite fresh Chinese and Australian stimulus to shore up an economy shattered by the coronavirus fallout.

      Australia was out on its own -- its stock market surging 7.0 per cent as the country's virus infections slowed, while after the close of trade in Sydney the government unveiled an income-support plan worth US$80 billion.

      Crude oil meanwhile struck the lowest levels in more than 17 years on Monday, with Brent North Sea tumbling to $22.58 per barrel at one point.

      "Estimates for the (oil) demand side are being revised downwards on an almost daily basis, while on the supply side there is still no sign of any reconciliation between Saudi Arabia and Russia" regarding their price war, Commerzbank said in a client note.

      There are warnings that oil could sink even further as storage tanks around the world approach full capacity.

      Elsewhere on Monday, the dollar climbed across the board, while Asian stock markets mostly fell following Friday's steep drop on Wall Street and Europe.

      Jubilation over last week's enormous US stimulus package has largely faded, with investors returning their attention to the soaring infection and death rate figures of the coronavirus.

      US President Donald Trump on Friday signed off Washington's stimulus measures worth more than $2 trillion.

      While the disease ravages populations and the global economy grinds to a halt with 40 per cent of the planet in lockdown, experts are struggling to get a grip on the scale of the crisis that is forecast to cause a worldwide recession.

      Analysts say there are likely more dark days ahead, with Trump abandoning his timetable for life returning to normal in the United States and extending emergency restrictions for another month.

      The president said he expected the country to "be well on our way to recovery" by June 1 -- dropping his previous target of mid-April.

      Meanwhile, senior US scientist Anthony Fauci issued a tentative prediction that COVID-19 could claim up to 200,000 lives in the US.

      Governments and central banks have acted to shore up the global economy, pledging around $5 trillion in stimulus support, with China on Monday joining the party by lowering bank borrowing costs and pumping billions of dollars into financial markets, while Singapore also eased rates.

      AxiCorp's Stephen Innes said markets looked like they were "nearing policy fatigue where it becomes less effective, and as the surprise element diminishes, no one cares".

      "So, while policy responses in the US and Europe have been spectacular... the coronavirus keeps spreading globally, deepening fears of the economic and financial impact across countries. More market turmoil likely lies ahead."

      He also pointed out that with the corporate reporting season approaching "now we are about to enter a vortex of bad earnings, bad economic data, and bankruptcies".

      Measures to contain the coronavirus outbreak will slash German 2020 economic output before a rebound next year, a panel of economists who advise the government said Monday.

      "The big question for markets is whether the huge stimulus introduced so far across the globe will be enough to help the global economy withstand the economic shock from the COVID-19 containment measures," said National Australia Bank's Rodrigo Catril.

      "To answer this question one needs to know the magnitude of the containment measures and for how long they will be implemented. This is the big unknown and it suggests markets are likely to remain volatile until this uncertainty is resolved."     

RIYADH — Saudi Arabia said on Monday it will raise its oil exports to a record 10.6 million barrels per day starting from May, escalating a price war with Russia.

      Oil prices are languishing at 17-year lows as the coronavirus pandemic threatens a global recession that will send demand plummeting.

      Saudi Arabia, the world's top oil exporter, which already announced a sharp production increase for April, said it will add additional supplies to the global market, deepening a glut.

      "The kingdom plans to raise its petroleum exports by 600,000 bpd from May, so total exports will increase to 10.6 million bpd," said an official at the energy ministry, cited by the state-run SPA agency.

      Saudi Arabia had been exporting around 7.0 million bpd under an output reduction agreement among a 24-member producers' alliance known as OPEC+ which included Russia.

      Its Gulf neighbour UAE has also pledged to pump at least one million bpd more from next month.

      Riyadh said earlier this month it was raising exports to 10 million bpd in April after a production cut agreement among top producers flopped in early March.

      OPEC+ failed to reach an agreement on further production cuts to shore up sagging prices as the coronavirus hit the global economy hard.

      In an effort to grab market share, Saudi Arabia immediately announced a substantial increase in its production to 12.3 million bpd and exports to 10 million bpd at the beginning of April.

      The energy ministry said it will secure the increase from two sources, by using natural gas in the domestic market to free up oil for export and also as domestic consumption drops because of the coronavirus.

      The price of oil struck its lowest levels in more than 17 years on Monday, with Brent North Sea crude tumbling to $22.58 per barrel at one point.

      There are warnings that oil could sink even further as storage tanks around the world approach full capacity.

BEIRUT — Banks in cash-strapped Lebanon have suspended dollar withdrawals until the airport reopens, a banking source said on Monday, after authorities grounded flights to halt the spread of the novel coronavirus.

      The country's international airport in Beirut has been closed for almost two weeks as part of measures to stem COVID-19 in Lebanon, where 446 official cases and 11 deaths have been reported.

      The flight hub is to remain closed until at least April 12, a date until which all non-essential workers have been told to remain at home across the country.

      A member of the Lebanese banking association, who asked to remain anonymous, said all dollar withdrawals would be halted "pending the airport reopening".

      "Dollars are imported and this is no longer possible because of the coronavirus," the source told AFP.

      "Dollar importers have suspended work."

      On Monday, long queues formed outside several banks north of the capital as monthly salaries came through after two weeks of ongoing home confinement, an AFP photographer said.

      A least two banks told clients that dollar withdrawals had been halted.

      Coronavirus is the latest crisis to hit Lebanon, already reeling from mass anti-government protests and in the grips of the worst economic crunch since its 1975-1990 civil war.

      For decades, the Lebanese pound has been used interchangeably with the dollar at a fixed exchange rate of 1,507 pounds to the greenback.

      But a liquidity crisis had seen banks gradually restrict access to dollars and halt transfers abroad since the autumn, leading the value of the Lebanese pound to plummet on the black market.

      On Monday, however, the banking association agreed to allow dollar transfers to Lebanese students abroad to help them face the coronavirus pandemic, the finance ministry said in a statement.

      A dollar is now worth more than 2,700 pounds on the black market and prices have shot up in recent months, but the banks have maintained the old exchange rate.

      Those with dollar accounts are frustrated at their inability to take out most of their cash to exchange it at a better rate from unofficial money changers, with some banks before Monday already capping withdrawals at as low as $400 a month.

      Lebanese banks stand accused of transferring millions of dollars abroad while preventing others from doing so after the start of mass protests against the political elite last October.

Tokyo —  The shock postponement of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics has dealt a savage blow to Japan's hotels and tourism industry.

      Many operators have seen bookings decimated due to the novel coronavirus and had been clinging to the hope that the Games would help them claw back this year's losses.

      "This is an enormous shock for us, with sales in many of our member hotels already down by half because of plunging demand for tourism, not only from abroad but also inside Japan due to the coronavirus," said Shigemi Sudo, secretary general of the Tokyo Hotels and Ryokans Association.

      "Many rooms are going to be cancelled, and it will be difficult to fill those empty rooms with new customers given the situation," he said.

      The delay, which came after weeks of Olympic organisers and officials insisting the sporting extravaganza would go ahead despite the soaring number of virus infections globally, leaves the industry in limbo as they wait for a new date to be set for 2021.

      Like the rest of the world, Japan's hotel industry has been devastated by the spread of the coronavirus with bookings down by as much as 90 per cent year-on-year in the March-April period, according to a survey by the Japan Tourism Agency.

      The agency is fielding calls from struggling businesses across the country.

      "The most frequent consultation requests we've received are about cash-flow difficulties and maintaining employment," an official told AFP.

      Keio Plaza Hotel in Tokyo's busy Shinjuku district -- home to the victorious Springboks during the Rugby World Cup -- said it began receiving cancellation calls shortly after the delay was announced.

      Its woes are compounded by the fact that a part-time worker at the hotel contracted the virus, forcing a deep clean of the vast building in one of Tokyo's busiest districts.

      "We hope to play a role (in hosting visitors for the postponed Olympics), but there's nothing we can say now," a hotel spokeswoman said.

      The Imperial Hotel in central Tokyo had been block-booked by Tokyo 2020 organisers for the original dates of the Games, which were due to open on July 24, and said it was now waiting for guidance.

      Even before the postponement it had been struggling with the "grave impact" of a downturn in tourism because of the pandemic, and had slashed its net profit forecast for the fiscal year ending this month by 37 per cent.

      For hotel chains such as Via Inn, the situation has caused unprecedented conundrums in recouping losses and filling hotel rooms.

      "Normally we'd be able to collect cancellation fees, but in this case it isn't the fault of our customers, so we can't request that," a spokesman told AFP.

      "I don't know if we can negotiate with Olympic officials about compensation or not."

      - 'No one to blame' -

      Just months ago, JTB, one of Japan's largest tour agencies, was selling Olympic packages bundling trips to Tokyo with tickets. Now they too are in a holding pattern, waiting for guidance.

      Tokyo Olympic organisers are aware of the gargantuan task ahead of them, and the many businesses and individuals waiting on their decisions.

      "I think we are racing against time," Tokyo 2020 chief executive Toshiro Muto said Thursday at the first meeting of a taskforce convened to organise the rescheduling.

      Olympic officials themselves will face a headache rebooking rooms and halls for next year. A decision on the new dates is reportedly expected in the next three weeks.

      "Generally speaking, reservations for event halls -- for example for wedding parties -- start six months to 12 months before," the Via Inn spokesman warned.

      But for all the hardship, there is one silver lining -- the prospect of at least recovering some losses when the rescheduled Games go ahead.

      "There is no one to blame, and we think the postponement is a better decision than cancellation," said Sudo of the Tokyo Hotels and Ryokans Association.

NEW YORK — Stock markets on both sides of the Atlantic retreated on Friday as investors banked profits from the week's rally sparked by massive government and central bank action to protect economies from the coronavirus.

"Today's sell off is most probably a consequence of three days of strong gains and a paring of risk ahead of the weekend," said Michael Hewson at CMC Markets UK.

He said it was "a welcome sight to see European stocks finish the week higher for the first time since mid-February, offering a welcome respite to some pretty battered portfolios."

The Dow Jones Industrial Average sank 4.1 per cent, or 915 points, to finish at 21,636.78, but leaving the index with its biggest weekly gain since 1931.

Oil markets saw another dismal day under the twin impact of the pandemic and an ongoing price war, with European benchmark Brent crude plumbing lows last seen in 2003.

"European markets have pulled back... with caution being the order of the day after such a good rally," said Neil Wilson, chief market analyst at trading group Markets.com.

"Stimulus efforts have calmed markets" this week, Wilson said.

Earlier, Asian stock markets had mostly managed to record more gains.

Unprecedented stimulus

Support this week has come largely from a $2-plus-trillion US rescue package was signed into law on Friday by President Donald Trump

The bill will pump $100 billion into hospitals and health facilities in critical need of medical gear like personal protective equipment and ventilators, create a $500 billion loan reserve for large corporations including airlines and provide $377 billion in grants to suffering small businesses.

The legislation is a welcome reprieve, and includes cash payouts to most Americans and a huge expansion of unemployment benefits. But economists warn of a tough road ahead.

"It is clear that we have entered a recession" that will be worse than the aftermath of the global financial crisis in 2009, said IMF chief Kristalina Georgieva.

US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin on Friday pledged to quickly send out direct cash transfers, saying, "Americans need that money now."

But there remains doubt about whether that can happen in the three weeks he has set as the timeframe.

"The success of a massive stimulus package... will depend on how quickly the aid can get to beleaguered consumers and businesses -- a huge challenge for federal and state agencies that aren't built to move quickly," said Art Hogan, chief market strategist at National Securities.

Hogan noted that the number of coronavirus cases in the United States is "exploding," and that economic data will be "horrendous" in the upcoming period. 

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.