Brent crude falls below $20 as extreme volatility rattles oil prices April 21, 2020 The price of worldwide oil benchmark Brent crude dropped below $20 for the first time in 18 years this morning after extreme volatility battered global oil markets. A mid-morning plunge sent Brent down to nearly $18, before the commodity recovered to stand 24 per cent down on the day at exactly $20. The fall weighed [...]
US stocks tumble amid oil market chaos April 21, 2020 US stocks have tumbled at the open after American crude oil prices fell into negative territory for the first time ever yesterday evening, unsettling investors and highlighting the stress coronavirus has put the global economy under. Wall Street’s Dow Jones index was 1.9 per cent lower shortly after the bell. The S&P 500 was down [...]
FTSE 100 sinks deeper as oil prices continue collapse April 21, 2020 The FTSE 100’s losses mounted up today as US oil prices returned into negative territory despite Europe beginning to relax coronavirus lockdowns. London’s blue-chip index dropped 2.25 per cent by 2pm, after opening around 1.3 per cent down this morning. The FTSE 100 lost 131 points to hit 5,681 points as oil majors and energy [...]
Pound tumbles as oil chaos drives investors towards dollar April 21, 2020 The pound has tumbled to a two-week low against the dollar as turmoil in the oil markets spooks investors and sends them towards safe-haven assets such as the greenback. Sterling had fallen 1.1 per cent by midday to $1.23. It was last at this level roughly 12 days ago. Investors around the world sold off [...]
German investor sentiment surprises with strong rebound April 21, 2020 German investor morale defied expectations and rebounded in April, a closely watched survey has shown, as market participants start to see “light at the end of the tunnel”. The German Zew think tank said its gauge of investor morale bounced sharply up to 28.2 from a reading of minus 49.5 in March. Analysts had been [...]
Unemployment rate set to surge in UK coronavirus lockdown April 21, 2020 The UK unemployment rate is set to rocket amid the coronavirus lockdown, economists warned today as data showed employment at a record high before March. But job vacancies sank by 52,000 year on year to 795,000 for the first three months of 2020, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said. UK unemployment also inched up [...]
Tullow Oil appoints new chief executive amid coronavirus disruption April 21, 2020 Tullow Oil has appointed Rahul Dhir as its new chief executive as the troubled exploratory firm overhauls its business amid the coronavirus oil crash. Dhir, who is currently the chief executive of Africa-based oil firm Delonex, joins Tullow as the firm cuts a third of its workforce and seeks to raise $1bn from the sale [...]
London Stock Exchange commits to Refinitiv deal and posts strong results April 21, 2020 London Stock Exchange has said it is making “good progress” on its planning for the $27bn (£22bn) takeover of Refinitiv, emphasising that it is still committed to the deal despite the coronavirus pandemic. In its first quarter results, LSE said its gross profit rose 13 per cent to £555m. Its total revenue rose 10 per [...]
Miner BHP holds on to iron production guidance despite coronavirus April 21, 2020 Mining giant BHP has maintained its production guidance for iron, coal and petroleum for 2020 despite the ongoing economic shutdown caused by coronavirus. However, the firm said that it expected to see double-digit contraction outside of China could contract by a double-digit figure, and that capital spending could fall below the $8bn previously forecast. In [...]
US oil prices rebound into positive territory after historic crash April 21, 2020 US crude oil has bounced back into positive territory after plunging into negative territory for the first time, as the coronavirus outbreak crushes demand. The US oil benchmark – West Texas Intermediate (WTI) – was at $1.43 a barrel in afternoon trading in Asia after starting the session at minus $14. It means producers were [...]