MACRO ECONOMIC NEWS

PRUDENCE IS TO ACKNOWLEDGE THE NATURE’S BLESSINGS. WISHING A SAGACIOUS DAY AHEAD.

Macro Economic News 21 Apr 2020

India takes first steps to restart economy after coronavirus lockdown as some shops and businesses opened in rural India as part of a staggered exit from a weeks-long lockdown although Indian firms face prolonged earnings downgrades after lockdown. A survey finds 8 of 10 companies will pay full wages for lockdown period although India Inc's business confidence at lowest levels since the global financial crisis and Fitch cutting India's FY21 GDP growth forecast to 1.8%. Crude claws back into positive territory but historic crash spooks investors as a negative $40 oil reflects panic - and U.S. crude market economic reality. U.S. President Donald Trump said he will be signing an executive order to temporarily suspend immigration into the United States. US is closing in on a more than $450 billion agreement that would replenish a program for small businesses battered by the coronavirus and related shutdowns, aiming to end a weeks-long impasse over the loan program. Indicators this week are expected to show more economic fallout from the new coronavirus and efforts to contain it. Australia may have lost three quarters of a million jobs between mid-March and early April when large chunks of the economy shut down in the fight against the coronavirus, pointing to a sharp spike in the unemployment rate in coming months.

FINANCIAL TIMES

[I]  US oil price below zero for first time in history 

[I]  EU coronavirus recovery fund plans face political bear traps

[I]  Contact-tracing apps must not be used for mass surveillance, warn experts

[I]  Trump exempts virus-hit US businesses from import tariffs  

[I]  Covid-19 exposes EU’s reliance on drug imports

[I]  Japan reveals $83bn cost of extra coronavirus spending

[I]  India takes first steps to restart economy after coronavirus lockdown

[I]  Banks are forecasting on gut instinct — just like the rest of us

REUTERS

[I]  India restarts factories, farming in rural areas even as coronavirus cases rise

[I]  Crude claws back into positive territory but historic crash spooks investors

[I]  India foreign investment rules aimed at China to include Hong Kong - sources

[I]  Trump says he will suspend all immigration into U.S. over coronavirus

[I]  Negative $40 oil reflects panic - and U.S. crude market economic reality

[I]  Australia loses 6% of jobs to coronavirus crisis - stats bureau

[I]  UK firms furlough over a million workers due to coronavirus

BLOOMBERG 

[I]  Indian Firms Face Prolonged Earnings Downgrades After Lockdown

[I]  Emerging Markets Have Never Experienced A Crisis Like This Before

[I]  Oil Below Zero, Remittance Risk, Beijing Pays Price: Eco Day

[I]  Emerging Market Rally-Watchers May Need to Look Beyond 2008

[I]  Deficit Funding to Rate Cuts Are India’s Options to Fight Virus

[I]  Job Losses Drain Overseas Money That Helps Fuel the Philippines

[I]  American Homeowners Grab at Mortgage Forbearance During Lockdown

WALL STREET JOURNAL

[I]  Lawmakers and Trump Administration Close to Small-Business Deal

[I]  States Burn Through Cash for Unemployment Payments

[I]  U.S. Treasury Sends Airlines Coronavirus-Related Financial Aid

[I]  In Race for Business Loans, Winning Hinged on Where Firms Bank

[I]  Oil Costs Less Than Zero but More Than $30 This Fall

[I]  Economy Week Ahead: Jobless Claims, U.S. Home Sales, PMI

BUSINESS LINE

[I]  ‘Let Parliamentary panel be involved in post-Covid-19 economic emergency plan’

[I]  Centre sanctions April’s instalments of tax share to States

[I]  Covid-19 relief: Jan Dhan accounts balance surges to ₹1.27 lakh crore

[I]  With no buyers, farmers stall cultivation of exotic vegetables

[I]  8 of 10 companies will pay full wages for lockdown period, says survey

[I]  With no buyers, farmers stall cultivation of exotic vegetables

ECONOMIC TIMES

[I]  India Inc's business confidence at lowest levels since the global financial crisis: FICCI survey

[I]  The real war for India will begin after the corona crisis gets over

[I]  NBFCs bonds rally 11-36% offshore, what triggered the rally?

[I]  India’s state borrowers are crowding out cash-strapped companies

[I]  Govt keeps a close vigil on demand-supply of agricultural products

[I]  SEZ, Export Oriented Units still await permits from states to resume operation

[I]  Business optimism for April-June quarter falls to record low, worse than 2009 financial crisis: Report

[I]  Fitch Solution cuts India's FY21 GDP growth forecast to 1.8%

BUSINESS STANDARD

[I]  Chinese investors likely to face Sebi heat after change in FDI rules

[I]  Brands get creative with customer engagement to stay relevant amid crisis

[I]  The future is back in the pits for steelmakers as demand falls rapidly

[I]  Business optimism for April-June quarter falls to record low: Report

[I]  RBI unlikely to monetise Centre's fiscal deficit in first half of FY21

[I]  States push ahead to include non-card holders for free rations under PDS

MARKETS (10:30 am)

[I]  SGX NIFTY Fut: 9007;  USDINR DGCX: 76.8450;  DJIA Mini: 23650;  FTSE 100 Fut: 5696;  NIKKEI 225 Fut: 19260;  EUR-USD: 1.0832; Crude Oil (WTI): 1.55;  Gold (Spot): 1687

Best Regards, ARBIND

21 Apr 2020