Oil prices fell on Monday on signs that worldwide oil storage is filling rapidly, raising concerns that production cuts will not be fast enough to catch up with the collapse in demand from the coronavirus pandemic. U.S. oil futures led losses after U.S. crude inventories rose to 518.6 million barrels in the week to April 17, near an all-time record of 535 million barrels set in 2017, while floating crude oil storage has hit an all-time high of 160 million barrels. U.S. West Texas Intermediate futures fell $1.22, or 7.2%, to $15.72 a barrel by 0122 GMT, while Brent crude was down 33 cents, or 1.5%, at $21.11 a barrel....
Stock futures kicked off the overnight session slightly higher Sunday evening as investors mulled a patchwork of state plans to slowly roll back social distancing measures....
(Bloomberg) -- U.S. stock futures dipped early Monday as investors weighed further signs of positive developments in the global fight against the coronavirus. The yen was steady as traders awaited a key Bank of Japan policy meeting.Asian equity futures rose, following a move higher for U.S. stocks on Friday. The Australian dollar erased early modest losses to trade higher, while moves were muted elsewhere across foreign-exchange markets. Coronavirus deaths slowed the most in more than a month in Spain, Italy and France while fatalities reported in the U.K. and New York were the lowest since the end of March. Oil dipped.The Federal Reserve joins the BOJ and the European Central Bank announcing policy decisions this week as the battle against the pandemic continues with some countries proceeding with measures to relax lockdown measures. Several major economies will release GDP numbers, while corporate earnings will keep flooding in, including from Amazon.com Inc.,...
The S&P 500 has rallied hard off its March lows, but the index remains down 12.9% year-to-date overall. The near-term economic outlook amid the COVID-19 shutdown is still unclear, creating a lot of uncertainty on Wall Street. The International Monetary Fund recently cut its 2020 global economic growth forecast to negative 3%.Fortunately for investors, a number of stocks have bucked the bearish trend and gained ground this year. Some of those stocks will maintain that bullish momentum as the economic downturn drags on, while others will prove to be overbought and regress.Here's what Bank of America analysts have to say about the seven best-performing S&P 500 stocks of 2020 (excluding buyouts).Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ: REGN) - Hold Regeneron is a biopharmaceutical company focused on treating eye disorders, hypercholesterolemia, cancer and other conditions. Regeneron shares have been on fire in 2020 for two main reasons. First, the company reported better-than-expected fourth-quarter earnings...
(Bloomberg) -- Plant shutdowns are leaving the U.S. dangerously close to meat shortages as coronavirus outbreaks spread to suppliers across the nation and the Americas.Almost a third of U.S. pork capacity is down, the first big poultry plants closed on Friday and experts are warning that domestic shortages are just weeks away. Brazil, the world’s No. 1 shipper of chicken and beef, saw its first major closure with the halt of a poultry plant owned by JBS SA, the world’s biggest meat company. Key operations are also down in Canada, the latest being a British Columbia poultry plant.While hundreds of plants in the Americas are still running, the staggering acceleration of supply disruptions is now raising questions over global shortfalls. Taken together, the U.S., Brazil and Canada account for about 65% of world meat trade.“It’s absolutely unprecedented,” said Brett Stuart, president of Denver-based consulting firm Global AgriTrends. “It’s a lose-lose situation...
