By Gina Lee, Peter Nurse and Kim Khan
Investing.com – Rolling updates on the latest developments and headlines from around the world on the Covid-19 pandemic.
(3:00 PM ET) Powell Says More to Be Done
In a virtual press conference that followed the monetary policy statement, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said the current stance of monetary policy remained appropriate, but conceded that the central bank and Congress will likely need to roll out further stimulus to ensure an eventual economic recovery is robust. “We are going to see economic data for the second quarter worse than anything seen," Powell added.
(2:10 PM ET) FDA Reportedly to OK Emergency Use of Remdesivir
The Food and Drug Administration could announce use of Gilead’s virus drug to use to treat Covid-19 as early as today, the New York Times (NYSE:NYT) reported, citing a senior administration official.
(2:00 PM ET) Fed Sees Medium-Term Risk From Covid-19
“The ongoing public health crisis will weigh heavily on economic activity, employment, and inflation in the near term, and poses considerable risks to the economic outlook over the medium term,” the Federal Open Market Committee said in its statement today. The Fed kept rates at 0% to 0.25%.
(12:45 PM ET) Fauci Positive on Gilead Drug
Speaking in the Oval Office, White House health adviser Anthony Fauci said the mortality rate trended “better” with Gilead drug Remdesivir and had a significant positive effect on reducing time to recovery.
(12:07 PM ET) Cuomo Fires Shots at McConnell
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo hit out against Senate Majority Mitch McConnell, accusing McConnell of wanting to punish states run by Democrats by withholding federal funds.
(11:16 AM ET) Hertz Looking at Bankruptcy?
Rental car company Hertz Global Holdings (NYSE:HTZ) is looking into a possible bankruptcy filing due to the slowdown in business from the Covid-19 pandemic after missing a lease payment, The Wall Street Journal reported.
(10:30 AM ET) Gain in Oil Stockpiles Eases Off
U.S. oil inventories rose by 9 million barrels last week, the Energy Information Administration said. That was lower than the 10.6 million barrels analysts predicted and well below trend of around 16 million barrels, boosting oil prices further.
(9:43 AM ET) Democrats plan Covid supplies czar
U.S. Senate Democrats unveiled legislation on Wednesday requiring the Pentagon to name a civilian officer to oversee the nation's supply and production of medical supplies and equipment needed to combat the spread of the new coronavirus.
(9:16 AM ET) Gilead’s antiviral drug has positive trial
Gilead (NASDAQ:GILD) Sciences’s experimental antiviral drug remdesivir helped improve symptoms in COVID-19 patients who were given the drug early than among those who were treated later, the company said.
The closely-watched drug has moved markets in the past few weeks and on Wednesday broader markets once again rose on the data and Gilead shares also jumped 9%.
(9:13 AM ET) U.S. GDP shrinks by annualized 4.8% in Q1
The U.S. economy shrunk by an annualized 4.8% in the first quarter of the year, the Bureau of Economic Analysis said on Wednesday, posting the first contraction since 2014 and the deepest since 2008.
The numbers, which are likely to be revised substantially in subsequent estimates, were worse than the 4.0% expectations of analysts polled by Investing.com.
(8:04 AM ET) Boeing (NYSE:BA) to cut 10% of jobs due to fall in travel demand
Boeing is reducing the size of its workforce by about 10% amid a steep fall in travel demand due to the coronavirus pandemic. Boeing has about 160,000 employees worldwide.
(8:00 AM ET) Virus labor market hit could equate to 305 million jobs
The International Labour Organization said Wednesday that working hours will be 10.5% lower this quarter than before the crisis started, equivalent to 305 million full-time jobs. The figure marks what it described as a “significant deterioration” on its previous estimate of 195 million jobs.
(7:54 AM ET) U.K. stands by Brexit timetable to end uncertainty
Britain and the European Union should get a trade deal done by the end of the year to end any additional uncertainty, foreign minister Dominic Raab said on Wednesday.
"Let's be very clear about it, our position is unchanged. The transition period ends on the 31st of December, that is enshrined in law," he told parliament after stepping in for Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
"There is no intention of changing that and actually what we should do now ... is focus on removing any additional uncertainty, doing a deal by the end of the year and allowing both the UK and the European Union and all of its member states to bounce back as we come through the coronavirus."
(7:39 AM ET) European confidence slumps in April
The European Commission’s monthly sentiment index plunged in April, to 67 from 94.2 in March, just above the 2009 low of 65.5 recorded during the financial crisis more than a decade ago.
Companies are worried about demand, employment expectations have dropped, and job concerns mean consumers are less likely to make major purchases.
(7:15 AM ET) AIB processes “well over” 40,000 payment breaks
Allied Irish Banks has processed "well over" 40,000 payment breaks for its loan customers as it helps homeowners and businesses cope with the impact of the coronavirus, its chief executive said on Wednesday.
Ireland's retail banks agreed last month to implement loan repayment breaks of up to three months for those affected.
(5:05 AM ET) Poland to reopen hotels, shopping malls on May 4
Poland will reopen hotels and shopping malls on May 4 while it will consider reopening pre-schools on May 6, Poland's Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said on Wednesday, in a move to ease restrictions imposed to stop the spread of the coronavirus.
Poland started relaxing some curbs earlier in April, saying they were costly for the economy. It has reopened forests and parks and eased rules on the number of customers in shops.
(4:41 AM ET) Euro zone lending surges to decade high
Lending to euro zone companies surged in March as firms rushed for emergency funding amid the continent's coronavirus-related lockdown, data from the European Central Bank showed on Wednesday.
Indeed, lending growth to non-financial corporations rose to 5.4% in March from 3% a month earlier, its best rate since 2009, even as household lending slowed to 3.4% from 3.7%.
(4:31 AM ET) Spanish retail sales plunged in March
Spanish retail sales plunged more than 14% in March, when the country went into lockdown to contain the coronavirus. The drop, the biggest in a data stream that goes back to 1996, reflects the closure of non-essential businesses and restrictions on movement apart from shopping for certain goods, such as food and medicine.
(4:27 AM ET) Russia nears 100,000 virus milestone
Russia on Wednesday reported 5,841 new cases of the novel coronavirus, bringing its overall nationwide case tally to 99,399.
The official nationwide death toll reached 972 after 108 people with the virus died in the last 24 hours.
(4:23 AM ET) Barclays (LON:BARC) takes £2.1 billion Covid-19 impairment charge
Barclays has Wednesday taken an impairment charge of 2.1 billion pounds ($2.6 billion) to cover its "initial estimates" of the impact of the virus.
Still, the British bank Barclays the impact of the pandemic "came late in what was until that point a good quarter," and despite the challenging environment, it was well placed to get through the crisis.
(4:15 AM ET) Airbus suffers badly during “gravest crisis”
Planemaker Airbus posted a 49% slump in first-quarter adjusted operating profit as revenue dropped 15%, called the Covid-19 outbreak the "gravest crisis the aerospace industry has ever k{{0|now} }n."
Europe's largest aerospace group also reported a negative cashflow of 8.03 billion euros, including a previously published record fine of 3.6 billion euros to settle bribery and corruption investigations in Britain, France and the United States.
(3:06 AM ET) Singapore’s unemployment highest for more than decade
Singapore's unemployment rate edged up in the first quarter to its highest in more than a decade. The overall unemployment rate rose to 2.4% from 2.3% in the previous quarter, data from the manpower ministry showed on Wednesday, the highest rate since the 2009 global financial crisis.
(2:55 AM ET) Daimler (OTC:DDAIF), Volkswagen still expect to post a profit this year
German car giants Volkswagen (DE:VOWG_p) and Daimler (DE:DAIGn) both said that they expect to be profitable this year, despite big falls in sales in the first and second quarters due to the pandemic.
(2:50 AM ET): British Airways to cut 12,000 jobs
British Airways is to cut 12,000 jobs - over a quarter of its workforce - as a result of the pandemic. The airline's parent International Consolidated Airlines Group (LON:ICAG) said it will take several years for travel to return to 2019 levels and plans further restructuring at group level.
(2:24 AM ET) Dutch manufacturers suffer crisis in confidence
The coronavirus pandemic has made manufacturers in the Netherlands more pessimistic about their prospects than ever before, the national statistics office said on Wednesday.
Producer confidence fell from 0.2 in March to minus 28.7 in April, registering the largest monthly drop ever, to the lowest level since records began in 1985, Statistics Netherlands said.
(2:01 AM ET) Beijing set to ease some quarantine rules
The city of Beijing plans to ease quarantine rules for some domestic travellers from low-risk areas in China as soon as Thursday, Reuters reported, citing two sources familiar with the situation, as the Chinese capital prepares for a major political gathering.
The gatherings of the National People's Congress traditionally see more than 5,000 delegates descend on Beijing from all over China for at least 10 days.
(1:42 AM ET) Australia defends call for Covid-19 inquiry
Australia's call for an independent inquiry into the origins of Covid-19 is "reasonable" and not targeted at any specific country, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on Wednesday, insisting this was not an attempt to criticise China.
Australian-Chinese bilateral relations have soured in recent weeks after Morrison called for the inquiry into the origins of novel coronavirus.
(1:36 AM ET) No deaths in Thailand’s daily coronavirus update
Thailand reported Wednesday nine new coronavirus infections but no deaths, taking to 2,947 cases and 54 deaths its tally since the outbreak began in January. It was the third day that new infections stayed in the single digits.
(1:25 AM ET) Prices to slump in Manila’s condominium market
The condominium market in Manila, the capital of the Philippines, is set to cool for the first time in a decade, according to Colliers International Group (NASDAQ:CIGI), with residential prices dropping by 15% this year from a year ago before slightly recovering next year.
The property services firm’s estimates assumed an economic contraction this year and the containment of the coronavirus next quarter. Condominium prices last fell during the global financial crisis, when it declined by 1.5% in 2009, Colliers data showed.
(1:10 AM ET) Italian bonds seen under pressure after downgrade
Italian sovereign bonds are likely to face selling pressure Wednesday after Fitch Ratings downgraded the nation’s rating by a notch to BBB-, just one level above junk. The outlook was revised from negative to stable.
Fitch was scheduled to hold its next review on July 10, but noted that developments in the country necessitated action outside the set date.
“The downgrade reflects the significant impact of the global Covid-19 pandemic on Italy’s economy and the sovereign’s fiscal position,” Fitch said in a statement.
(0:56 AM ET) German deaths top 6,000
Germany on Wednesday reported 1,304 more cases of the novel coronavirus while the number of deaths rose by 202 compared with the previous day, data from the Robert Koch Institute for infectious diseases showed.
Europe's most populous country {{0|now} } has a total of 157,641 confirmed cases and 6,115 deaths, according to the tally.
(10:51 PM ET) China's National People's Congress annual general assembly to start on May 22
China's National People's Congress will kick off its annual general assembly on May 22, in a show of confidence that COVID-19 is under control in the country.
The annual general assembly, which usually takes place in March, was delayed due to the virus outbreak.
(10 PM ET) South African economy could shrink as much as 6.4%
South Africa’s Finance Minister Tito Mboweni said that the country’s economy could contract as much as 6.4% this year, while the budget deficit could swell to more than 10% of gross domestic product due to COVID-19.
(9:58 PM ET) School’s (almost) in for senior high school students in Hong Kong
Hong Kong’s senior high school students will return to school on May 26 at the earliest, after the citywide university entrance exam ends on May 25.
To prevent a second wave, schools are likely to run on a half-day schedule until the end of the school year. Junior high school students could return to school on June 8, with upper elementary students expected to resume on June 1.
(9:56 PM ET) U.S. cases top 1 million
Johns Hopkins University data said that there are {{0|now} } 1,012,517 COVID-19 cases in the United States as of April 29. The data also said that the virus has claimed 58,356 lives in the country, more than the 58,220 American soldiers killed during the Vietnam War.