Asia

Asian indexes this morning are down across the board, including the Nikkei (=1.39%) and the Hang Seng (-1.39%).

Unemployment in Australia rose to 6.2% in April, less than expected but still a 5-year high, with the participation rate falling disappointingly to 63.5.

The AUD lost 40 pips on the announcement as PM Morrison told citizens to brace for worse.

China’s Finance Minister Liu Kun yesterday wrote that he was considering further tax cuts and supporting pork production – perhaps threatening Phase-1 ordained pork imports from the US – to allegedly help the economy overcome the Corona calamity.

Meanwhile, the Wall St. Journal reports that Iranian and Chinese hackers are attacking companies doing coronavirus vaccine research – both pharma companies and university labs.

Europe

European equities yesterday fell, led by the CAC40 at -2.85. Industrial production across the Eurozone in March fell by 12.9% YoY in March.

The UK Int’l Trade Dept said it was considering a cut on US agricultural tariffs to push the free trade agreement currently under discussion.

Americas

The Russel 2000 yesterday lost a full 3.62% followed by the DOW’s -2.17% and the S&P and NASDAQ close behind. Producer inflation in April contracted by another 1.3% MoM.

Putting to rest thoughts of negative interest rates, Fed head Jerome Powell last night warned the administration it may have to spend much more to “ensure their initial response to the coronavirus-induced economic downturn isn’t squandered,” according to the Wall St. Journal.

Powell said he expected unemployment to peak in June. And returning to pre-COVID days, Trump yesterday extended his ban on Chinese telecom companies, as part of his national emergency privileges.

Commodities

The first drawdown in oil stocks in 16 weeks pushed up crude prices by a dollar a barrel overnight before settling slightly lower this morning, after OPEC reported it expects oil demand to fall by 9.07mB/d in 2020.

US energy secretary yesterday diverged from WH policy, saying the government was not planning to aid the nation’s oil producers.

Corporate

Cisco yesterday reported an 8% decline in Q1 revenues with earnings down 6%. Better than expected, shares added 2.5% after trading.

Airbus shares lost €2 upon announcing a 10K jobs reduction.

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