Three Indian refiners cut Mideast oil imports in May
By Ritu, Capital Sands At least three Indian refiners have curbed oil imports from Middle East producers, including Saudi Arabia, for May because of storage constraints as local fuel demand slumped following the coronavirus outbreak, company officials said. This is the second consecutive month that Indian refiners have cut their long-term crude imports as […]
Global oil output cuts held hostage to Mexican standoff
By Ritu, Capital Sands Oil producers in the OPEC+ group, led by Saudi Arabia and Russia, were expected to pressure Mexico on Friday to seal an accord for a collective cut in output of 10 million barrels per day, before asking other nations for a further 5 million bpd of cuts. The United States has […]
RBI says coronavirus has ‘drastically altered’ India’s growth outlook
By Ritu, Capital Sands The outlook for India’s economic recovery has been sharply altered by the coronavirus outbreak, the central bank said in its Monetary Policy Report, underlining the pandemic’s deepening impact on South Asia’s engine of growth. “Prior to the outbreak of COVID-19, the outlook for growth for 2020-21 was looking up,” the Reserve […]
WhatsApp limits message forwarding to slow spread of coronavirus misinformation
By Ritu, Capital Sands Facebook Inc’s WhatsApp tightened message forwarding limits on Tuesday, restricting users to sharing forwarded content one chat at a time after a jump in messages touting bogus medical advice since the start of the coronavirus crisis. The pandemic, which has killed more than 70,000 people worldwide, has been accompanied by what […]
UK construction activity falls in March at fastest rate since 2009
By Ritu, Capital Sands Britain’s construction sector saw the sharpest fall in activity since the financial crisis last month, a survey showed on Monday, despite facing much less pressure than other industries to shut down operations due to the coronavirus. The figures from financial data provider IHS Markit and the Chartered Institute of Procurement and […]
Airline industry braces for lengthy recovery from coronavirus crisis
By Ritu, Capital Sands International seat capacity has dropped by almost 80% from a year ago and half the world’s airplanes are in storage, new data shows, suggesting the aviation industry may take years to recover from the coronavirus pandemic. Carriers including United Airlines Holdings Inc and Air New Zealand Ltd have warned they are […]
India’s March factory activity growth at four-month low amid coronavirus spread
By Ritu, Capital Sands India’s manufacturing activity expanded at its slowest pace in four months in March and is likely to get worse as demand and output take a hit from the coronavirus outbreak, putting a severe dent in business optimism, a private survey found. A 21-day nationwide lockdown, which started on March 25 in […]
India’s March electricity usage falls 9.2% as lockdown bites
By Ritu, Capital Sands India’s electricity use fell 9.2% in March, provisional government data showed on Wednesday, as consumption dropped for the first time in three months due to a nationwide lockdown to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. Consumers used 100.2 billion kilowatt hours (kWh) in March, compared with 110.33 billion units a year […]
Gold dips 1% as dollar rises, but heads for quarterly gain
By Ritu, Capital Sands Gold prices dropped 1% on Tuesday as the dollar strengthened and strong Chinese economic data boosted risk appetite, but bullion was on track for a sixth consecutive quarterly rise amid fears over a global shutdown due to the coronavirus. Spot gold was down 1% at $1,605.64 per ounce by 0930 GMT. […]
Global economy already in recession on coronavirus devastation
By Ritu, Capital Sands The global economy is already in a recession as the hit to economic activity from the coronavirus pandemic has become more widespread, according to economists polled by Reuters amid a raft of central bank stimulus actions this week. The spread of the disease caused by the virus, COVID-19, has sent financial […]