Coronavirus: Daily News and Updates 10052020

BBC News Coronavirus: Young people are keen to fly again, says airline boss

 Some seats are left empty, there is no food served or in-flight magazines and aircraft are deep-cleaned every night. That’s the new “hygiene regime” at Wizz Air.

UK stocks markets are closed due to the VE Day Bank Holiday

UK stock markets are closed today, but most significant indices are open for trade.

In the Asia-Pacific region, Japan’s leading index the Nikkei 225 ended the day up 2.56 per cent with the Hang Seng and China’s SSE Composite both following suit.

Current futures would index American stocks will continue to remain positive with another week of gains.

FTSE 100 Index ends the day up 82 points at 5935

Another good day on global stock markets as the FTSE 100 ends the day up 1.40 per cent but still down 21.30 per cent year to date.

RSA Insurance, Phoenix Group and Hargreaves Lansdown pushed the index near the 6,000 point mark.

Bank of England sees worst slump in 300 years, holds off from more stimulus

LONDON (Reuters) – The Bank of England held off from further stimulus measures on Thursday but said it was ready to take more action to counter the country’s biggest economic slump in over 300 years, caused by the coronavirus lockdown.

Asia-Pacific stocks mixed but European markets in a favourable position in early trading

In China, the SSE Composite Index and Hang Seng Index both end the day down after profit-taking, with the latter down 0.70 per cent.

The FTSE 100 is up 30 points, and other major European stock markets are following the upward trend.

Dow Jones and S&P 500 current futures indicate a positive day on both indexes.

Coronavirus: China’s exports in surprise jump in April, but imports tumble

April exports rose by 3.5 per cent from a year earlier, reversing the 6.6 per cent fall in March and much better than the combined minus 17.2 per cent collapse in January and February.

Source: South China Morning Post

BBC News Morning Summary

• The UK will review its lockdown measures on Thursday, with ministers keen to restart the economy.
• About 400,000 PPE kits the UK bought from Turkey did not meet British safety standards, the government confirms.
• The United Nations appeals for a further $4.7bn (£3.8bn) in funding to protect poorer countries.
• UN official Mark Lowcock warns the “spectre of multiple famines looms”.
• President Trump accuses China of the “worst attack in US history”.
• The US records more than 2,000 Covid-19 deaths in the past 24 hours.
• Repatriation of around 15,000 Indians on 64 flights is due to get underway.
• Brazil reports 615 deaths – the highest one-day tally ever in the southern hemisphere.

Source: BBC News Live

A mixed bag on global stock markets

 The day started positively with China’s SSE Composite Index and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng indices up at the end of the day.

Initially European markets started the same way but fell away with only the FTSE 100 index posting a small gain of 0.07 per cent.

At the end of the trading day, American markets followed Europe with both the Dow Jones and S&P 500 ending the day in the red.

Current futures would indicate global stock markets to be in the red tomorrow.

US stock markets open flat but European stocks starting to fall

The Dow Jones and S&P 500 indices initially fell at the opening bell but are back above Tuesday’s close.

After opening positive markets in Germany, France and Spain are in negative territory. However, the FTSE 100 remains above Tuesday’s close with an hour to go until the market closes.

MarketWatch – ADP says 20.2 million US  private-sector jobs lost in April amid coronavirus crisis

The numbers: Private-sector companies shed a whopping 20.2 million jobs in April as many were forced to shutter during a nationwide shutdown to slow the coronavirus, underscoring the biggest crisis for American workers and the U.S. labor market in nearly a century.

Furlough scheme to wind down  from July

The UK government’s scheme to help business with PAYE employees and for the self-employed is likely to wind down in July.

In other news, the government will be looking to relax the current lockdown rules but restaurants and bars will not form part of the first or second phases.

 FTSE 100 opens flat on Wednesday morning

After yesterdays gains, the FTSE 100 index has opened slightly down on last night’s close after been driven by oil stock gains. The price of oil is back up to over $30 a barrel.

Current futures contracts would indicate European stocks starting the day lower with American markets to open in positive territory.

Restaurants gain as Hong Kong eases social distancing restrictions

Bargain hunters swooped back into Hong Kong’s stock market following Monday’s 1,000-point rout, willing to overlook US President Donald Trump’s increasingly angry rhetoric toward China to snap up shares of everything from local restaurant chains to Chinese major oil players. 

Source: South China Morning Post

BBC News Morning Summary

• Schools reopen in China’s virus epicentre for the first time since the outbreak began.
• Senior students in Hubei return – but most pupils will remain at home.
• The Queen tells Australian PM Scott Morrison she is “so pleased” at the country’s Covid-19 success.
• The head of state also tells the PM she is pleased the country continued its horse racing.
• In the UK, an adviser resigns after claims he had a relationship that broke lockdown rules.
• The UK now has the world’s second-highest death toll (29,502) after the US (70,646).
• President Trump announces a “different group” will replace the White House coronavirus taskforce later this month.

Source: BBC News Live