Reuters Insider - Reuters Today: German exports collapse in April as coronavirus hits

CMC

09/06/2020 09:30

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Source: Reuters Insider

Description: German exports and imports slumped in April, posting their
biggest declines since 1990 as the coronavirus crisis slashed demand, adding
to a gloomy outlook for Europe's biggest economy.
Short Link: https://refini.tv/2MImLHK

Video Transcript:

Germany’s trade with the rest of the world plunged in April. Exports fell
by 24%, far worse than expected as the pandemic hit global demand. Imports,
too, fell dramatically as domestic demand dried up during lockdown. Here, in
the UK, retailers reported a sharp fall in sales for May but less of a decline
in the month before. The British Retail Consortium say the value of sales
overall fell 5.9% compared with the near 20% drop in April. The improvement
follows the easing of some Covid-related restrictions and as more shoppers
went online. Meanwhile, France’s central bank says the economy will take
two years to recover. It says growth is likely to contract by more than 10%
this year with partial 6.9% rebound in 2021. It’s also predicting the
unemployment rate this year will hit a record 11.8%. European stocks recovered
their composure following Asian stocks and Wall Street higher. The lifting of
restrictions is fueling hopes of a swift economic rebound. JPMorgan Asset
Management says the current risk rally is driven by the belief that the worse
is behind us, but it warns the road to recovery is long and a second wave of
infections cannot be ruled out. Oil prices climbed as the easing of lockdown
measures across the world lifted traders’ hopes of a rebound in demand.
The gains were kept by the specter of persistent oversupply in the market.
Michael McCarthy at CMC Markets says with Brent holding nicely above $40 a
barrel, there’s talk among traders that WTI will test that level soon.
The latest data suggests the UK’s daily death toll from confirmed cases
of COVID-19 rose by 55. That’s the lowest rise since the lockdown was
imposed by Boris Johnson in March. According to a Reuters tally, however,
Britain is among the worst affected countries in the world with a death toll
of more than 50,000.

The number of new fatalities each day is thankfully falling too. Today’s
figure records the lowest number since the 21 March, before lockdown began.
They also show that there were no deaths recorded in London hospitals which
are real milestone for the capital which of course, in the early stages of
this pandemic, faced the biggest peak.

Let’s take a look at some companies in the news and EasyJet says it
believes it could win a legal challenge against the UK government over its
quarantine policy. The suit will be filed later today. The airline says the
measure has been rushed through is out of proportion. Ryanair Boss Michael
O’Leary says he thinks the policy will be dropped by the end of the June.

I think in their heart of hearts the government actually would like the courts
to strike it down because it would get them off the hook that they now kind of
got themselves caught on. Nobody in the home office of the department of
transport believe this quarantine is effective. They really- their heart
isn’t in promoting it. I think bizarrely they were quite happy to have
the distraction of the demonstrations over the weekend, so they didn’t
have to go to defend this completely ineffective measure.

Sources say Fiat-Chrysler and Peugeot may have to make concessions to their
$50 billion merger to get it passed regulators. They say the European
Commission is worried about their combined market share in small vans. The two
companies have until Wednesday to make their case otherwise they face a
four-month long investigation. And oil giant BP has whacked 10,000 jobs by the
end of the year. That’s around 50% of its total workforce. The move is
part of a plan to shift the company towards renewable energy. Most of the cuts
will be made at senior management level at head offices and not on front-line
operations