Irish shares join global rally from biggest sell-off since 2008 crash
Ireland’s Iseq stock market index rallied on Tuesday, as global equity markets recovered some of the losses sustained in the previous session in the biggest sell-off since the 2008 financial crash. Wall Street shares are also on track to stage a mini recovery as futures on the S&P 500, Dow Jones Industrial Average and Nasdaq were all marked higher. The Iseq jumped as much as 4 per cent to 6082,95, having slumped 6.4 per cent on Monday. The pan-European Stoxx 600 index and London’s FTSE 100 each added up to 3.8 per cent. Still, analysts cautioned that markets will remain volatile for the foreseeable future as investors keep an eye on the spread of coronavirus, which has prompted fears of a global recession. The stock market plunge on Monday has also been fuelled as oil prices slumped by over 30 per cent in the sharpest slump since the 1991 Gulf War, as a standoff between Saudia Arabia and Russia over production sparked a price war. “While things feel like the end-of-days I’d stay risk averse in the near-term, but expect bear market rallies,” said Chris Weston, head of research at Pepperstone Group. Article Source: click here.
Wall St plunges after oil shock, trading halted
Wall Street’s main indexes dropped 7% and the Dow Jones crashed 2,000 points in what would be its biggest one-day fall ever in opening trade today. Trading on US stock exchanges was halted immediately after today’s opening as the S&P 500 fell 7%, triggering an automatic 15 minute cutout put in place after the 2008-9 financial crisis. Saudi Arabia’s move to raise oil production significantly after OPEC’s supply cut agreement with Russia collapsed sent ripples across global financial markets already panicking about the impact of the coronavirus outbreak. Crude oil logged its worst day in almost three decades, sending oil majors Chevron Corp and Exxon Mobil down more than 9%. The energy index slumped 20.1%. At 5.20pm Irish time, the Dow Jones was down 1,702 points (6.57), at 24,162 and the Nasdaq Composite was down 428 points (5.02%) at 8,102. European shares plummeted across the board by close as a lockdown in northern Italy due to coronavirus outbreak and a 30% plunge in oil prices amplified fears of a global recession. London’s commodity-heavy FTSE 100 closed down 7.6% this evening. Shares of oil majors BP and Royal Dutch Shell were down more than 20% at Article Source: click here.
Coronavirus: St Patrick’s Day parades cancelled and €3bn aid package unveiled
The Government has agreed an aid package of some €3bn to deal with the public health and economic impact of the coronavirus and it has also moved to cancel all St Patrick’s Day Parades in the State cancelled in a bid to curb the spread of the virus. People affected by coronavirus are to receive sick pay of €305 per week from their first day of illness under a new initiative announced by the Government. Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said the existing conditions surrounding the sick payments, such as having a specific number of contributions, would be waived. Payments will also be available to the self-employed. The Taoiseach said emergency legislation to change the existing rules governing sick pay would be introduced in the Dail next week. The decisions were made following a meeting of the new Cabinet sub-committee on Covid-19 and followed advice from the National Public Health Emergency Team. There are 21 confirmed cases of coronavirus in the State but Minister for Health Simon Harris said the outbreak here will become “very serious”, adding there was a moderate to high risk it could follow the progression of the outbreak in other European nations. An update on the number of new cases will be provided by the Department of Health this evening. In Northern Ireland, two schools have been closed for a deep clean after a student tested positive for coronavirus. The health minister Robin Swann told the North’s Assembly that the schools are located on the same site. Northern Ireland currently has 12 confirmed cases of coronavirus. Article Source: click here.
Why has Saudi Arabia started an oil price war?
Oil prices crashed by as much as 30 per cent after Saudi Arabia fired the first shots in a price war, in crude’s biggest one-day fall since the early 1990s Gulf war. Riyadh’s threat to discount its crude and raise production prompted the price of brent crude, the international oil marker, to fall to as low as $31.02 (€27.36) per barrel. West Texas Intermediate, the US benchmark, fell to $27.71 a barrel. But why did the world’s top exporter decide to move so aggressively, with demand reeling from the coronavirus crisis? And what does it mean for the wider oil industry? Why is Saudi Arabia launching a price war? Saudi Arabia had wanted to lead Opec and Russia in making deeper cuts to oil production to support crude prices in the face of the coronavirus outbreak, which has disrupted global economic activity. But when Russia baulked at the plan, the Gulf kingdom turned on an ally it had worked with to prop up the oil market since 2016. Riyadh responded by raising production and offering its crude at steep discounts. Analysts said that was an attempt to punish Russia for abandoning the so-called Opec+ alliance. Article Source: click here.
Donohoe signals cut to growth outlook over coronavirus
The Minister for Finance has said that, given the openness of the Irish economy, it is inevitable that we will be impacted by the slowdown arising from the coronavirus outbreak. Addressing an event at Chartered Accountants Ireland last night, Paschal Donohoe said it was too early to quantify the impact but that the Department of Finance would provide a clearer picture in the Stability Programme update in April. He said the actual cost, in terms of lost global GDP, would depend on the duration of the outbreak. The OECD has already said the outbreak has the potential to slow global growth to its lowest rate since the financial crisis just over a decade ago. Meanwhile, the Managing Partner of PwC Ireland has said a slowdown in Asia from the Covid-19 outbreak would likely be felt more here in the coming months. Feargal O’Rourke said the spread of the virus and measures to contain it could result in decision making being deferred by businesses. He was outlining the findings of the latest survey of business chiefs carried out by PWC. The study, which was conducted before the virus outbreak, shows that confidence in the overall economy among CEOs at its lowest level since 2009. However, it also indicated more resilience among companies to deal with problems. Article Source: click here.
Economy grew by 5.5% last year – CSO
The country’s gross domestic product grew by 5.5% in 2019, likely making it the European Union’s fastest-growing economy again, new figures from the Central Statistics Office show today. The pace of growth was lower that the 6.3% predicted by the Finance Department as the country braces for the impact of the coronavirus outbreak. GDP, which in recent years has become an incredibly volatile way of measuring Ireland’s open economy, expanded by 1.8% on a quarterly basis from October to December, the CSO figures showed today. Greater Brexit clarity convinced Ireland to nudge up its GDP growth forecasts for 2019, 2020 and 2021 in January. But Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe said this week that the country’s highly integrated economy will inevitably be impacted by the expected global slowdown related to coronavirus. Mr Donohoe said it was too early to predict the extent to which growth would be impacted but that weaker global growth will affect the country’s short-term outlook. The economy is forecast to grow by 3.9% this year. Article Source: click here.
Pay for workers who self-isolate to be examined by Government officials
Government officials are to examine the possibility of making financial assistance available to private sector workers affected by the coronavirus. The Government on Thursday announced State employees affected would receive special leave with pay but talks between unions and employers on Friday examined what could be done for private sector workers. Unions have warned that some private sector workers without contractual provision for sick leave may not be able to afford to self isolate. On Friday morning Government officials met with representatives of the trade union movement and employers’ groups. Patricia King the general secretary of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions said: “Officials are gone off to consider if they can build a proposal that they can put to us over the coming hours or days “Everyone is if they view that all workers should be enabled to self isolate”, she said . “We are to consider what the options are and see if we can build a solution. “ “We will reconvene either later today or over weekend. Everybody understands the issue has to de dealt with .” Maeve McElwee of the employers’ group Ibec said everyone saw the urgency of the matter. She said the talk on Friday morning had been positive with lots of suggestions. Article Source: click here.