March, 2020

• 29 March

  Bank of Canada begins large scale asset purchases

  

  Bloomberg The Bank of Canada announced a large scale asset purchase program and cut its benchmark interest rate to a record low in a bid to ease financial-market strain and shield the nation’s economy from coronavirus fallout. The central bank lowered its policy rate last week by another half a percentage point to 0.25%, adding in a statement that the …

  Read More »
• 29 March

  RBC cut prime rate by 50bps

  Bloomberg Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) cut its prime rate by 50 basis points (bps), matching Bank of Canada’s latest emergency rate cut. Canada’s largest lender by assets reduced the key rate to 2.45% from 2.95%, the Toronto-based bank said in a statement. Canada’s central bank unexpectedly cut its overnight lending rate by another half a percentage point to 0.25% …

  Read More »
• 29 March

  Walmart’s hiring surge finds 25,000 workers in first week

  

  Bloomberg Walmart Inc has taken on 25,000 new employees and given offers to thousands more in the first week of a hiring push, as the biggest private employer in the US scrambles to keep its shelves stocked and checkouts staffed during the coronavirus pandemic. The retailer has compressed a hiring process that can often take two weeks into as little …

  Read More »
• 29 March

  Thai airlines to seek $491m government bailout

  

  Bloomberg Seven airlines in Thailand are set to start talks with the Finance Ministry for a 16 billion baht ($491 million) bailout, the Bangkok Post reported. The airlines have jointly agreed to seek help, the newspaper said, citing Tassapon Bijleveld, executive chairman of Asia Aviation Pcl, the largest shareholder of Thai AirAsia. The seven carriers are Thai AirAsia, Thai Lion …

  Read More »
• 29 March

  Southwest losing ‘big money’ on every flight

  

  Bloomberg Southwest Airlines Co is losing “big money” on every flight, raising the risk of worker furloughs in the longer-term despite billions of dollars in immediate aid from the US government. The biggest US discounter is “appreciative” of the package of loans and cash assistance approved by the Senate and awaiting a vote in the House of Representatives, CEO Gary …

  Read More »
• 29 March

  Singapore Air drops on $6.2b capital raise to fight virus

  

  Bloomberg Singapore Airlines (SIA) shares fell after the carrier unveiled a plan to raise about S$8.8 billion ($6.2 billion) to contend with the devastating impact of the coronavirus pandemic. The company will issue S$5.3 billion in new stock at S$3 apiece, 54% lower than the last closing price last week, as well as convertible bonds, according to a statement. State …

  Read More »
• 29 March

  LVMH revenue drops 20% due to Covid-19

  Bloomberg LVMH said revenue for the last quarter dropped 10% to 20%, compared with the same period last year, as its luxury brands temporarily closed stores and shoppers tightened their wallets due to the coronavirus pandemic. The French luxury-goods maker will disclose first-quarter results on April 16. The company said the outbreak’s full impact “cannot be accurately calculated at this …

  Read More »
• 28 March

  Trump signs $2 trillion virus bill, largest ever US stimulus

  

  Bloomberg President Donald Trump signed the largest stimulus package in US history, a $2 trillion bill intended to rescue the coronavirus-battered economy. “This will deliver urgently needed relief,” Trump told reporters at the White House, as he was joined by GOP leaders but no Democrats. “We’re going to keep our small businesses strong and our big businesses strong.” The hard-won …

  Read More »
• 28 March

  India’s chaotic cities turn eerily silent as coronavirus fears grow

  

  Bloomberg The bustling streets are silent across much of India as the country heeds Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s 21-day lockdown to break the chain of transmission of the coronavirus, but the WhatsApp groups are buzzing. As the number of infections continue to rise, the anger and anxiety once expressed by the honking of horns at rush hour is finding voice …

  Read More »
• 28 March

  Green fuel plants shut and some may never come back

  

  Bloomberg The coronavirus and cheap oil are hitting the fuel business so hard that ethanol plants are shutting down. Some may never come back. The entire biofuel industry is facing a reckoning. Long before the pandemic emptied roads and exacerbated oil price war, producers were battling chronic oversupply and trade upheaval. Now slumping demand and prices mean smaller producers and …

  Read More »