(Bloomberg Opinion) -- You might think that 2020 was the year everyone gave up on petroleum-powered transport. Royal Dutch Shell Plc Chief Executive Officer Ben van Beurden has expressed doubts about whether oil demand will ever return to pre-Covid levels. The world’s largest carmaker Volkswagen AG pledged that more than a fifth of its vehicles will be battery-driven by 2025.The International Energy Agency is pushing for 30% of vehicle sales to be electric by 2030 and expects gasoline demand to peak late this decade even under current policies. Major oil refineries are switching to manufacture raw materials for plastics and jet fuel on the expectation that consumption in their core market of powering road transportation is in decline.Seven & i Holdings Co. has a different view. It’s impossible to see the 7-Eleven owner’s $21 billion offer to buy Marathon Petroleum Corp.’s Speedway convenience stores as anything but a wager on the future of their...
(Bloomberg) -- HSBC Holdings Plc fell short of profit estimates as Europe’s biggest lender signaled worsening loan losses weighed down by the global pandemic. The lender has faced a challenging start to the year that had hit its worldwide operations, leading to a slump in earnings from its retail and corporate banking businesses, which was partly offset by rising income from its market division. The lender raised its estimate for 2020 loan losses to $8 billion to $13 billion.“Our first half performance was impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic, falling interest rates, increased geopolitical risk and heightened levels of market volatility,” Chief Executive Noel Quinn said in a statement.The slowdown at the bank will increase pressure on Quinn to speed up his planned overhaul that is expected to lead to the loss of 35,000 jobs as the lender looks to either turnaround or cut low-returning units. Quinn said on Monday that the...
(Bloomberg) -- The dollar is flashing a warning sign to U.S. policy makers -- get a grip on the virus.After hitting an all-time high in March, a gauge of the greenback has lost 10% of its value, with declines accelerating in recent weeks as infections spread seemingly unchecked across the nation. Much of the sell-off has come during New York trading hours, suggesting domestic investors are closing out bets on U.S. strength and spurring renewed questions about the supremacy of the dollar. Meanwhile, a popular model that’s guided dollar traders for the past two decades has warped.It’s a rapid reversal in fortune. Early on in the pandemic, the dollar soared after investors sought safety in U.S. assets like Treasuries while the virus stormed through Europe. But with cases now exploding at home, the ineffectual American response to the disease has become a millstone for the currency, spurring concern about lasting damage...
Oil prices fell on Monday on oversupply worries as OPEC and its allies are set to wind back output cuts in August and a rise in worldwide COVID-19 cases points to a slower pick-up in demand. Brent crude futures slid 27 cents, or 0.6%, to $43.25 a barrel by 0642 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were down 34 cents, or 0.8%, at $39.93....
Oil prices fell on Monday on oversupply concerns as OPEC and its allies wind back production cuts in August and a rise in worldwide COVID-19 cases points to a slower pick-up in fuel demand. Brent crude futures slid 26 cents, or 0.6%, to $43.26 a barrel by 0253 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were down 29 cents, or 0.7%, at $39.98 a barrel....
It’s a busy day ahead, with manufacturing PMIs to drive the EUR and the Dollar. Geopolitics remains in focus, however, with all eyes on Capitol Hill....
