Following several days of meetings that began last Thursday, a historic oil deal has been reached.OPEC+ have agreed to cut production by 9.7 million barrels per day for May and June. Mexico, which was a key country that that kept an agreement delayed, will cut its output by about 100,000 barrels per day. In all, this represents about 10% of global supply.Oil prices have been volatile since Russia's disagreement with OPEC's decision to cut oil supply in early March resulted in a price war with Saudi Arabia."Measures to slow the spread of the coronavirus have destroyed demand for fuel and driven down oil prices, straining budgets of oil producers and hammering the U.S. shale industry, which is more vulnerable to low prices due to its higher costs," according to Reuters.Benzinga is covering every angle of how the coronavirus affects the financial world. For daily updates, sign up for our coronavirus newsletter.>...
(Bloomberg) -- New York State has one of the world’s highest death tolls, but fewer patients went to hospitals, a positive trend noted by the governor. Fewer new deaths were reported in hard-hit Italy and France.The rate of increase for new U.S. cases fell for a second day. A Fed banker cast doubt on a rapid recovery after economic life restarts. France, Germany, Italy and Spain reported a slowdown in new cases, allowing governments to seek ways for safely easing lockdowns. The U.K. became the fifth nation to record more than 10,000 deaths.Key DevelopmentsCoronavirus Tracker: Global cases exceed 1.8 million; deaths top 113,000Pork producer warns of meat shortagesNBA owner Mark Cuban sees fanless gameCruise passengers spend Easter on “ghost ship”Volatile data complicates ending Europe lockdownChina’s Harbin tightens measuresN.J. Starts Planning for Possible Reopening (4:45 p.m. NY)New Jersey reported an additional 168 deaths from Covid-19, bringing the statewide total to 2,350. Cases...
(Bloomberg Opinion) -- After four days of high drama, low farce and long periods of tedium, the OPEC+ group of countries, led by Saudi Arabia and Russia, finally agreed to a record cut in their oil production in response to the coronavirus-triggered collapse in demand. But the deal will come under pressure when the world becomes a more normal place again.The drama was provided by Mexico refusing to accept its allotted cut. The farce followed when the country’s oil minister left the virtual OPEC+ meeting to hold separate talks with her U.S. and Canadian counterparts, while the other energy ministers agonized for hours, and then for days, over how to respond. The tedium? Well, that was just the bits in between.Mexico was asked to cut 400,000 barrels a day of production in the first phase of an OPEC+ deal that would run for an unprecedented two years. It offered one-quarter of that, and from a...
The majority of a small group of coronavirus patients showed their condition improve after treatment with remdesivir, an experimental drug being developed by Gilead Sciences Inc. (GILD), according to a study published in the The New England Journal of Medicine.The study is based on results from a cohort analysis of 53 patients hospitalized with severe COVID-19 symptoms in the U.S. and around the world, who were treated with the investigational antiviral remdesivir on an individual compassionate use basis. About two-thirds of the patients showed improvement in oxygen support and 17 of 30 of those treated who were on ventilators were able to be taken off the life-support machines. Moreover almost half of the treated patients were discharged from hospital.“We cannot draw definitive conclusions from these data, but the observations from this group of hospitalized patients who received remdesivir are hopeful," said Jonathan D. Grein, Director of Hospital Epidemiology, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, and...
OPEC, Russia and other oil producing nations agreed on Sunday to cut output by a record 9.7 million barrels per day for May-June, representing around 10% of global supply, to support oil prices amid the pandemic, according to sources. The agreement, could put a floor on oil prices and provide a psychological boost for equity investors, since talks had hit roadblocks late last week. If it was a bigger cut "then you would've seen oil prices strengthen to $30 very quickly and that would be helpful for equity markets but we didn't get that," said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Spartan Capital Securities....
(Bloomberg) -- New York State’s death toll passed 9,000, and fewer patients were sent to hospitals, a positive trend noted by the governor. Hardest-hit Italy and France reported the fewest new deaths in weeks.A top U.S. infectious disease doctor said parts of the U.S. may be ready in May to ease restrictions that have shut businesses. A Fed banker cast doubt on a rapid recovery after the limits end.France, Germany, Italy and Spain reported a slowdown in new cases, allowing governments to seek ways for safely easing lockdowns. The U.K. became the fifth nation to record more than 10,000 deaths.Key DevelopmentsCoronavirus Tracker: Global cases exceed 1.8 million; deaths top 112,000Pork producer warns of meat shortagesCuomo to meet regional state leaders on reopening planNBA owner Mark Cuban sees fanless gameVolatile data complicates ending Europe lockdownChina’s Harbin tightens measuresPork Producer Warns of Shortages (3:15 p.m. NY)The world’s biggest pork producer warned that the...
