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It’s going to be a big week for China. Between Washington devising new ways to punish them for the spread of the coronavirus and the destruction of economies and livelihoods, to Wuhan’s all-important testing to see how far they’ve come in combating the virus, the market has a lot on the stir fry pot. Judging by all the market knows now, the highlight everyone is waiting for comes on Friday. That’s when the Communist Party will meet for its delayed National People’s Congress legislative meeting to discuss a coronavirus relief ...

NASDAQ-Adv: 1256 Dec: 2021 NYSE-Adv: 1589 Dec: 2265 (Source: Nasdaq)

Seafarers keep maritime trade going so that the food, raw materials, energy and manufactured goods on which so many depend

British prompt wholesale gas prices declined on Tuesday morning on above average temperatures, reduced demand and high storage levels. * The day-ahead contract was down by 0.15 pence at 11.25 pence per therm at 0926 GMT. * Gas for working days next week was 0.50 pence lower at 11.25 p/therm. * Traders said warm weather and weak demand was weighing on prices. * “Extremely weak local distribution zone demand has offset slightly higher gas-for-power demand and higher storage inventories might continue weigh on the price today,” Refinitiv gas analysts said. ...

NASDAQ-Adv: 2586 Dec: 696 NYSE-Adv: 3092 Dec: 729 (Source: Nasdaq)

Russian oil pipeline monopoly Transneft has rejected a proposal by energy giant Rosneft to cut transportation tariffs following a fall in oil prices, the latest twist in a longstanding row between the state companies. Transneft and Rosneft are headed by allies of Russian President Vladimir Putin and have had a long history of differences over number of issues such as oil transportation tariffs, the construction of pipelines and loading schedules. Igor Sechin, the head of Rosneft, asked Putin last week to align transportation tariffs with current oil prices, which plummeted ...

A Franco-German proposal for a recovery fund that would issue grants to EU countries worst hit by the coronavirus pandemic goes in the same direction as the European Commission’s proposal on such a fund to be unveiled next week, the Commission said. France and German made a joint proposal on Monday to create a 500 billion euro fund, financed through European Commission borrowing and repaid via the joint European budget. The recovery plan would be supported by commitments from EU governments to undertake healthy economic policies and reforms. “I welcome ...

As early as 2017, Natixis decided to cease financing projects and companies involved in extracting oil from tar sands and in heavy grade oil, and now takes this policy further by extending its commitment to projects and companies actively involved in shale oil and gas exploration and production. Natixis will no longer finance shale oil and gas exploration and production projects worldwide, and also pledges to halt financing companies whose activity is reliant by more than 25% on shale oil and gas exploration and production. Natixis ceased all project financing ...

U.S. homebuilding dropped to a five-year low in April, underlining fears that the novel coronavirus crisis would lead to the deepest economic contraction in the second quarter since the Great Depression. Housing starts tumbled 30.2% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 891,000 units last month, the lowest level since early 2015, the Commerce Department said on Tuesday. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast housing starts would fall to a pace of 927,000 units in April. Housing starts dropped 29.7% on a year-on-year basis in April. Homebuilding fell in all ...

United States Steel Corporation (NYSE: X) (the “Company” or “U. S. Steel”) today announced a four-year agreement to sell substantial volumes of quality iron ore pellets to Ontario, Canada based Algoma Steel Inc. (“Algoma”). The purchase agreement, which runs from 2021 through 2024, provides incremental volume and a new long-term iron ore customer for U. S. Steel’s Minnesota mines. “As a top North American iron ore producer, U. S. Steel is pleased to partner with Algoma to ensure they have the substantial supply of iron ore pellets they need to ...

U.S. stock markets will deliver among the steepest recoveries in their history over the next year, returning to levels from before March’s coronavirus lockdowns more than twice as fast as after the 2008 financial crisis, according to analysts from U.S. bank Citigroup. In a note to clients dated Monday, the bank forecast the S&P 500 index and Dow Jones Industrial Average index would stand at 3,160 points and 28,400 points respectively in June 2021, up about 7% and 15.5% from current levels. The forecast is among the most bullish among ...

Japan’s Ministry of Agriculture sought 110,573 tonnes of food-quality wheat from the United States, Canada and Australia in a regular tender. Japan, the world’s sixth-largest wheat importer, keeps a tight grip on imports of the country’s second-most important staple after rice and buys the majority of the grain for milling via tenders typically issued three times a month. Details are as follows (in tonnes): COUNTRY TYPE QUANTITY U.S. Western White 20,465 * U.S. Hard Red Winter(Semi Hard) 22,710 * U.S. Hard Red Winter(Semi Hard) 17,950 * U.S. Dark Northern Spring(protein ...

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s announcements over the weekend to allow commercial mining in India’s coal production and remove the government monopoly is unlikely to provide an immediate relief to stressed thermal power companies even as they benefit from improved coal linkages in the long run. Analysts say that since the earliest coal evacuation that is possible under the new policy is in FY26-27, stressed thermal power plants won’t be able to financially hold out long enough to benefit from the change in policy. Sitharaman said that the government will permit ...

Sensing torrential rains and gusty winds from the massive cyclonic storm Amphan, ports in Odisha are gearing up to meet any eventuality. As a measure of precaution, Paradip Port Trust (PPT) has moved around 20 ships from anchorage areas to safer waters in the deep sea. The major port has forbidden any inward movement of ships from 18:00 hours of May 17. All operations are being wound up and the port area is being cleared of personnel. Barring a few employees needed for manning the critical areas, others will not ...

The Port of Mombasa recorded a 2.1 per cent decline in container traffic in the first quarter of this year compared with the same period last year. This casts doubts on the goal of attaining a 35.9 million tonnes total throughput and 1.49 million twenty foot equivalent units (TEUs) target in 2020 as stated in the Kenya Ports Authority’s Master Plan. In a report released last week by the Northern Corridor Transit and Transport Co-ordination Authority, the Covid-19 pandemic was cited as the reason behind the drop from 110,790 TEUs ...