Bloomberg The contraction in China’s foreign trade is set to continue through the second quarter, as global demand remains depressed by measures to curb the ongoing coronavirus outbreak. Both exports and imports are forecast to have slumped 10% or more in March, with data due on Tuesday expected to show a continuation of the declines seen in the first two ...

Bloomberg The Philippines has temporarily barred doctors, nurses and other health workers from leaving for overseas work amid the coronavirus outbreak, a move that irked its top diplomat who pledged to fight the ban. The Philippine Overseas Employment Administration issued a resolution on April 2 halting the departure of workers in 14 medical professions for the duration of the nation’s ...

Bloomberg China’s largest food-delivery site Meituan has hit back against allegations that it charged onerous commissions to restaurants during the Covid-19 outbreak, underscoring the delicate balance the company must strike to get its business back on track. Responding to complaints from a restaurant association in the southern province of Guangdong, Meituan said its average profit per delivery order was less ...

Bloomberg China’s securities regulator punished two high-flying startups for misleading shareholders, barring them access to public markets for new funding. Shares of Ningbo Ronbay New Energy Technology Co and Zhejiang HangKe Technology Inc closed down at least 10% in Shanghai after the companies were told they wouldn’t be allowed to sell stocks or bonds publicly for a year. The punishment ...

Bloomberg President Donald Trump said the “Big Oil deal” sealed will save hundreds of thousands of American jobs. But the agreement he brokered depends on a sharp downturn in shale that will likely bring about a wave of bankruptcies and job cuts. Days of frantic diplomatic maneuvering culminated in an agreement by Opec+ to pare production by 9.7 million barrels ...

Bloomberg China’s coal prices have sunk to levels that threaten state intervention, but this time policy makers may refrain from doing so as they continue efforts to buttress the economy hurt by the coronavirus pandemic. The government will try to keep power prices low as it pushes to restart the economy, according to analysts. That goal will be helped by ...

Bloomberg Exxon Mobil Corp said that it would slash its capital expenditures by $10 billion, to about two-thirds of what it had planned just a month ago. It’s the second-largest capex cut in the company’s modern history, according to Bloomberg News. While those capex cuts are in the future, oil production dynamics are changing in real time. Rystad Energy analysis ...

Bloomberg More than a third of new US electricity generation expected to come online over the next six months could hit roadblocks as the coronavirus pandemic curbs power consumption and disrupts supply chains. About 4.9 gigawatts, or 39%, of new utility-scale capacity will be “either cancelled or indefinitely postponed” from April through September, said Energy Information Administration economist Tyler Hodge. ...

Bloomberg Gross domestic product (GDP) in the Latin America and Caribbean region, excluding Venezuela, is expected to shrink 4.6% in 2020, according to the World Bank. The dramatic drop in demand from China and G7 countries due to the Covid-19 pandemic is affecting commodity exporters in South America and exporters of manufactured goods and services in Central America and the ...

Bloomberg The UK has paid out more than 1 billion pounds ($1.25 billion) to small businesses across the country to help them weather the coronavirus pandemic. Almost 100,000 firms have so far drawn on the cash from the government’s grants programs for small businesses, retailers and the hospitality sector, the Local Government Association said in an emailed statement on Monday. ...