Comments by French labour minister, Muriel Pénicaud And the scary part is that the number should be far greater considering those that are still technically employed but are unable to operate their businesses during this time.
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Probably one of the more sobering indicators…
Carlsberg and Heineken withdraw guidance With supermarket sales of alcohol having risen during the lockdown time you may have been forgiven for thinking that all food and beverage stock would be pretty safe harbours to weather the storm in. Well, think again. A number of Stoxx 600 companies have withdrawn their 2020 guidance. According to […
UK's Raab to prepare public for lockdown extension – report
The Guardian reports on the matter Well, with the UK one of the later ones to have imposed lockdown measures, this should not be a major surprise. The virus trajectory certainly continues to allude that any real turning point is yet to be reached:
Nikkei 225 closes near flat levels at 19,345.77
The market mood remains more tepid and mixed today There are some worries about the virus outbreak in Japan and that is perhaps putting pressure on the domestic situation as we look towards the latter stages of the week.
Japan March preliminary machine tool orders -40.8% vs -29.6% y/y prior
Latest data released by the Japanese Machine Tool Builders' Association – -29.6% ForexLive The reading measures the change in total value of new orders placed with Japanese machine tool manufacturers. The slump in factory orders largely comes from a drop in foreign demand, as domestic demand actually improved slightly on the month.
UK February visible trade balance -£11.5 billion vs -£6.0 billion expected
Latest data released by ONS – 9 April 2020 – -£3.7 billion; revised to -£5.8 billion – Non-EU trade balance -£5.6 billion vs -£1.0 billion expected ForexLive
UK February GDP -0.1% vs +0.1% m/m expected
Latest data released by ONS – 9 April 2020 – 0.0%; revised to +0.1% – GDP +0.1% vs +0.1% 3m/3m expected – Prior 0.0% ForexLive Slight delay in the release by the source. The UK economy already is showing weaker signals even before the virus outbreak and lockdown measures hit, and that isn't confidence-inspiring about [&
Germany February trade balance €20.8 billion vs €16.5 billion expected
Latest data released by Destatis – 9 April 2020 – €13.9 billion – Current account balance €23.7 billion vs €17.0 billion expected – Prior €16.6 billion
Italy may extend lockdown by two weeks – report
La Stampa reports on the matter ForexLive Meanwhile, we are also hearing from Italy's economy minister via Il Sole that the government could consider direct intervention to protect companies expose to market turbulence from the recent economic fallout caused by the virus outbreak.
Germany's Altmaier says expects Eurogroup finance ministers to reach a deal
Comments by German economy minister, Peter Altmaier – Can't see any damage from Germany's coronabonds stance – German priority is to protect euro area stability ForexLive