April, 2020

• 4 April

  Walmart told to halt in-store sales of non-essentials in Vermont

  

  Bloomberg Shoppers in Vermont hoping to wander the aisles of their local big-box store in search of an exercise mat or a video game are out of luck. The state ordered Walmart Inc and other big-box retailers to halt the sale of “non-essential” products in their brick-and-mortar locations to reduce the potential spread of the coronavirus. A spokesman for Vermont’s …

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• 4 April

  Amazon chooses Irvine for second grocery-concept site

  Bloomberg Amazon.com is planning to open a new grocery store in Irvine, California, the second confirmed location for an as-yet-unnamed retail concept separate from the company’s Whole Foods Market chain. Amazon job postings show the retailer is hiring for managers and grocery staffers for a store in the city, located southeast of Los Angeles in Orange County. An Amazon spokeswoman …

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• 4 April

  Chipotle can last a year with lower sales: CFO

  Bloomberg Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc is well positioned to ride out the Covid-19 storm that’s ravaging the US restaurant industry, according to its chief financial officer. “We can get through for many months or even a year at these kind of depressed sales levels,” CFO Jack Hartung said in an interview, declining to provide sales figures. He said the disease …

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• 1 April

  Oil hits $20 as Saudi output surges, Russia’s won’t rise

  

  Bloomberg Oil held near $20 a barrel as Saudi Aramco’s output surged above 12 million barrels a day, but Russia said it would refrain from further production hikes. Crude futures in New York were little changed on Wednesday, following a record decline in the first quarter. While state-run Aramco’s oil supply has surpassed 12 million barrels a day and is …

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• 1 April

  India’s revenues under strain on new fiscal year

  

  Bloomberg India kicks off its fiscal year with revenues under severe strain. A prolonged slowdown in the economy depressed tax collections in the financial year that ended on Tuesday, latest official data show. As India now conducts the world’s biggest lockdown, budget pressures are set to worsen. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has already outlined a virus relief package of $22.5 …

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• 1 April

  Virus lockdowns drag global manufacturing into a slump

  

  Bloomberg Factories around the world suffered one of their grimmest months on record in March, as the coronavirus led to mass shutdowns and wreaked havoc on supply chains. Figures from Asia and Europe showed measures of manufacturing activity dropped sharply, with some at their lowest since the financial crisis more than a decade ago. In Italy, an index of output …

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• 1 April

  S’pore home prices fall most in 3 years

  

  Bloomberg Singapore home prices fell the most in more than three years in the first quarter as the coronavirus outbreak slammed the economy. Property values declined 1.2% in the three months ended on March 31, according to a preliminary estimate from the Urban Redevelopment Authority released on Wednesday. That’s the steepest decline since a 1.5% drop in the third quarter …

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• 1 April

  China’s LNG demand makes comeback in virus-hit market

  

  Bloomberg As the coronavirus pandemic roils the global liquefied natural gas market, suppliers are finding that the centre of demand has come full circle back to where it was first hit: China. Over the past two weeks, Chinese buyers have become some of the most active in the Asian market. That signals a turnaround from February, when the country’s top …

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• 1 April

  Covid-19: Coal India mulls output cuts as inventories mount

  

  Bloomberg State-run Coal India is considering cutting output at some mines, aligning it with a steep drop in demand from power generators amid a countrywide lockdown, according to people with knowledge of the development. The Kolkata-based miner will focus on clearing inventories and reducing production at thermal coal mines that have high stockpiles, said the people, who asked not to …

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• 1 April

  Cheap energy shuts down a nuclear reactor

  

  Bloomberg The latest victim of the global slump in energy prices is an old Swedish nuclear reactor that will stay offline until at least the end of summer. Electricity prices in the Nordic market were plunging even before the coronavirus began to cripple economies and hurt demand worldwide. That’s because of the build-up of a huge surplus of future supply …

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