(Bloomberg) -- Stocks in Europe and Asia tumbled with U.S. equity futures on Thursday after the Federal Reserve painted a long slog ahead for the economic recovery and as coronavirus infection rates jumped in parts of America.The Stoxx Europe 600 Index opened sharply lower, with sectors scooped up in the recent rally such as banks and travel leading declines. S&P 500 contracts sank after Fed Chairman Jerome Powell suggested the pandemic could inflict long-lasting damage on the economy. Treasuries continued higher while the dollar rebounded from Wednesday losses. The cautious mood coincided with concern of a fresh wave of the virus emerging as U.S. lockdowns ease.Japanese and Australia benchmarks led a broad decline among Asia equity markets. Crude oil declined while gold held onto most of Wednesday’s gain.Stocks are catching their breath after their fierce rally from March lows as investors weigh a rocky road to recovery from the pandemic against...
(Bloomberg) -- China’s No. 2 online retailer JD.com Inc. raised HK$30.1 billion ($3.9 billion) in its Hong Kong share sale, people familiar with the matter said, cementing the world’s second-biggest listing this year.The company priced 133 million new shares at HK$226 each, according to the people, asking not to be identified as the information isn’t public. The price represents a 3.9% discount to the Nasdaq-listed JD’s closing price of $60.70 per share on Wednesday. JD trades in the U.S. via American depositary receipts, one of which represents two ordinary shares.JD’s shares are slated to begin trading in Hong Kong on June 18, which coincides with its largest annual online sales event. A representative for the company declined to comment.At $3.9 billion, JD’s Hong Kong share sale is this year’s second-largest globally, after Beijing-Shanghai High Speed Railway raised $4.3 billion in January, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. First-time share sales slowed...
(Bloomberg) -- U.S. and European stock futures slumped along with Asian shares Thursday after the Federal Reserve painted a long slog ahead for the economic recovery and after data showing a rise in infection rates in some U.S. states.Futures on the S&P 500 dropped more than 1% and European contracts were down over 2%. Treasuries consolidated gains made in the wake of the Fed decision, which featured fresh projections including an outlook for no interest-rate hikes through 2022. The dollar rebounded from Wednesday losses. Crude oil tumbled. Coronavirus cases have now surpassed 2 million in the U.S., and Texas saw the biggest jump yet. On Wednesday, stocks whipsawed after the Fed left its policy settings unchanged and pledged to keep buying bonds. Chair Jerome Powell said the central bank had a briefing on yield-curve control, amid expectations from some economists that the Fed will follow Australia and Japan in adopting such...
(Bloomberg) -- Oil slumped in New York as an increase in American crude stockpiles to a record high raised fresh concerns about excess supply, while the Federal Reserve forecast a long road to recovery for the U.S. economy.Futures lost 4.1% to trade near $38 a barrel, erasing all of the gains from the past two sessions. Crude inventories unexpectedly rose last week, even as oil production fell, while gasoline stockpiles also saw a surprise expansion. Fed Chairman Jerome Powell said the pandemic could inflict longer-lasting damage on the economy and the central bank signaled it would keep rates near zero possibly for years to come. There are also fears that a second wave of infections in the U.S. may derail its fragile recovery.Global supply cuts and the easing of lockdowns in some countries has pushed prices higher after oil plunged below zero in April. However, the recovery is expected to be...
(Bloomberg Opinion) -- Copper has been on a steady upward trend, charging into a bull market and toward $6,000 per metric ton. That’s going to be tough to sustain. China’s stimulus efforts are being felt most strongly in infrastructure and construction. They have been less marked in other metal-intensive corners of the market: consumer goods and exports, which are still waiting for Europe and the U.S. to rally. Meanwhile, disruptions to supply from Latin America’s unfolding coronavirus disaster haven’t been enough yet to offset annualized demand loss. What happens next will be determined by whether Chile, Peru and producers like Indonesia, home to the world’s second-largest copper mine, can do better at controlling the epidemic than resource-rich Brazil.An economic bellwether, copper crumpled earlier this year as the scale of the pandemic became clear, falling by late March to its lowest levels since late 2016. The metal has clawed most of that back and with no large market surpluses in sight, Goldman Sachs...
The company said Marco Wiren would join from Finnish engineer Wartsila and take over from Kristian Pullola as chief financial officer (CFO) from Sept. 1. Nokia's new Chief Executive Pekka Lundmark will also take the helm in September, while last month Sari Baldauf started as chairwoman, succeeding Risto Siilasmaa who had led the board for eight years....
(Bloomberg Opinion) -- Every now and then during this extraordinary year, it’s good to pause and behold with awe how much has already changed, and how fast. Take Germany. For the past decade, most of the world, including me, has been berating those German tightwads to get over their balanced-budget fetish and spend, spend, spend. Then a pandemic comes along, and suddenly they do just what we’ve been asking for.And how. Including the latest top-up and ancillary liquidity measures such as guarantees, Germany’s stimulus package to mitigate the economic hit from Covid-19 totals more than 1.3 trillion euros ($1.47 trillion). That’s by far the largest in Europe and even tops America’s, relative to gross domestic product. Kudos to Chancellor Angela Merkel.There’s no question that this “bazooka,” as Germany’s finance minister calls it, is necessary and good. Nor are the Germans entirely wrong to gloat that their newfound munificence is only possible thanks...
