Oil prices plunged to multi-year lows on Monday as tensions between Russia and Saudi Arabia escalate, sparking fears on the Street that an all-out price war is imminent. The sell-off in crude began last week when OPEC failed to strike a deal with its allies, led by Russia, about oil production cuts. That, in turn, caused Saudi Arabia to slash its oil prices as it reportedly looks to ramp up production U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude and international benchmark Brent crude posted their worst day since 1991. Source CNBC
China’s oil demand has recovered to more than 90% of the levels seen before the coronavirus pandemic struck early this year, a surprisingly robust rebound that could be mirrored elsewhere in the third quarter as more countries emerge from lockdown. Source Reuters
- The European Central Bank increased its Pandemic Emergency Purchase programme by a further €600 billion ($676 billion) on Wednesday.
- Markets were largely expecting a €500 billion ($563 billion) increase.
- The new package takes the ECB’s total announced monetary stimulus to €1.35 trillion ($1.52 trillion).
- ECB also extended its horizon for net purchases until at least June 2021. Source Business Insider
The European Central Bank will buy an extra €600bn of bonds in a bid to revive the eurozone’s pandemic-stricken economy, it announced on Thursday, while slashing its forecasts for growth and inflation.
ECB president Christine Lagarde said the region was “experiencing an unprecedented contraction”, adding that “severe job and income losses and exceptionally elevated uncertainty” had led to a “significant fall” in both consumer spending and investment. Source FT Blog
