By Gina Lee, Peter Nurse, Kim Khan and Yasin Ebrahim
Investing.com - Germany will begin reopening its economy next week, while some U.S. states seeing lower impact from the Covid-19 pandemic could be able to restart their economies in early May,
About 20 U.S. states could be able to restart their economies by May 1, Robert Redfield, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said Wednesday.
"There are a number of states - 19, 20 states - that really have had limited impact from it. So I think we will see some states that are - the governors feel that they're ready - we're poised to assist them with that reopening," Redfield told ABC.
Meanwhile, the federal government is mulling plans to carry out a three-pronged approach to restart the economy as soon as May, The New York Post reported, citing leaked federal agency documents.
A three-stage process to restart the economy was detailed in leaked documents dated April 10, developed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency in cooperation with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,
The initial preparation phase would feature a public relations campaign lasting until May 1, according to the Washington Post, which acquired the 36-page public health chapter and an 11-page executive summary of the report. The second phase, spanning May 1 to May 15, would see mass-production of test kits and protective equipment. In the final step, life would return to normal if local conditions allowed.
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo issued an executive order requiring people to weak masks or face coverings when social distancing is not possible.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said President Donald Trump’s decision to halt funding for the World Health Organization was “senseless … dangerous, illegal and will be swiftly challenged."
U.S. retail sales tumbled by 8.7% in March from the prior month, the biggest decline in records dating back to 1992, as the coronavirus forced thousands of the nation’s merchants to close and left millions of Americans without a paycheck.
The New York Empire State Manufacturing index plunged to a record low of -78.2 for April, clear evidence of the pandemic's especially sharp impact on the state, which has lost some 9,000 to the virus so far. The previous record low had been set in February 2009 at -38.2.
Sentiment among U.S. homebuilders plunged in March, with the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index sinking to 30 from 72. That as the biggest drop in the history of the index.
Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) reported a drop of 45% in first-quarter profit and added $3.6 billion to loan loss reserves in the quarter. PNC Financial (NYSE:PNC) and US Bancorp (NYSE:USB), two more big Main Street lenders, also missed expectations after similar rises in provisions.
Investment bank Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) also missed forecasts with EPS of $3.11 compared with expectations of $3.75, while provisions against credit losses rose to $937 million. Citigroup (NYSE:C) reported a 46% plunge in quarterly profit as the bank set aside nearly $5 billion to prepare for an expected flood of defaults on loans.
Canada's economy shrank a record 9% in March from the previous month as the coronavirus outbreak forced the shutdown of economic activity during the course of the month, the country’s statistics office said in a flash estimate on Wednesday..
Europe:
Germany will start reopening its economy on April 20, Chancellor Angela Merkel said, according to published reports. Large public events will be banned until August 31 at the earliest, while schools will start in early May.
In Italy, new cases of the coronavirus came in at 2,667 Wednesday, down from 2,972. Deaths rose by 578, down from 602 the day before.
France’s retail sales sank 24% in March from February, down 7.2% in the first quarter from the previous three months, data from the central bank showed on Wednesday.
Sales of industrial goods were down over 43% while food sales fell only 0.9%, the Bank of France said.
French President Emmanuel Macron said he has secured the agreement of three of the five permanent members of the United Nations' Security Council to back a call by the UN for a global ceasefire so the world can focus on the coronavirus epidemic.
The French leader said he was hopeful of securing Russian President Vladimir Putin's agreement in the coming hours.
Denmark will reopen its primary schools and kindergartens for the first time in a month.
Germany's confirmed coronavirus cases have risen by 2,486 to 127,584, data from the Robert Koch Institute for infectious diseases showed on Wednesday, meaning the number of new infections rose after four days of decline. The reported death toll has risen by 285 to 3,254.
The U.K.’s economy could shrink by 35% in the second quarter of the year and unemployment soar by more than 2 million, according to an assessment by the Office for Budget Responsibility, the government’s independent economics forecaster.
The International Monetary Fund forecast that the global economy is likely to shrink by 3.0% during 2020, the steepest downturn since the Great Depression of the 1930s.
Asia-Pacific:
China's central bank on Wednesday cut the interest rate on its medium-term funding for financial institutions to 2.95%, the lowest on record, from 3.15%. The move should pave the way for a similar reduction to the country's benchmark loan prime rate, which will be announced on the 20th, to lower financing costs for companies hit by the pandemic.
Japan's death toll from the coronavirus could reach 400,000 without measures to stem the contagion, according to a health ministry projection reported by local media. The health ministry could not immediately confirm the report.
The country has been relatively lightly hit so far, with just over 100 deaths reported to date.
New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern led Kiwi lawmakers, including the leader of the opposition and public service chief executives, in a 20% pay cut for six months to support those who have lost jobs or have to rely on wage subsidies due to the virus.
The pay cut will not apply to other members of the public services such as frontline medical staff.