Insurance giant QBE is embarking on a $US825 million ($A1.3 billion) raising to build a buffer against the impacts of the coronavirus pandemic. The company, which also said premium growth had been strong in the first quarter, is the latest in a growing list of ASX-listed firms to tap shareholders […]
Day: April 13, 2020
IMF gives debt relief for 25 poor nations
The International Monetary Fund has cancelled six months of debt payments for 25 of the world’s most impoverished countries so they can help tackle the COVID-19 pandemic. IMF Executive Director Kristalina Georgieva issued a statement saying the IMF executive board approved the immediate debt relief for 19 African countries, Afghanistan, […]
Gold prices shoot over seven-year peak
Gold soared over 1.5 per cent to its highest in more than seven years as panicked investors scurried towards the safe-haven metal on fears of coronavirus blow to the global economy and US corporate earnings. Spot gold surpassed the key $US1,700 pivot to touch its highest since December 2012 earlier […]
Shanghai copper hits near four-week high
Copper futures prices climbed to their highest in nearly four weeks on supply worries, following a fall in inventories and operations suspension in major producer nations. The most-traded copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange climbed as much as 1.9 per cent to 41,980 yuan ($US5,958.80) a tonne, its highest […]
Oil mixed as demand worries offset gains
Oil prices were mixed as the historic production-cut deal inked by major global oil producers was not enough to assuage existing worries about the demand destruction brought on by the coronavirus pandemic. Brent futures rose 26 US cents, or 0.8 per cent, to settle at $US31.74 a barrel, while US […]
Shares slip, crude mixed as gold jumps
Stocks on Wall Street have mostly slid over concerns of what the coronavirus pandemic will do to corporate earnings while crude prices were mixed as a global deal on record output cuts failed to quell doubts the pact would head off an oil glut. Gold prices rose to their highest […]
Wall St falls on dour earning expectations
Wall Street’s main indexes have slipped amid expectations of a painful US quarterly earnings season due to the coronavirus pandemic. JPMorgan Chase & Co and Wells Fargo & Co will kick off the reporting season on Tuesday, with analysts expecting an uptick in trading revenue to be offset by declines […]
MMG nixes Peru copper mine guidance
Australia-based MMG Ltd is formally withdrawing its 2020 production guidance for the Las Bambas copper mine in Peru, it says, after the South American country extended a state of emergency to contain the spread of coronavirus. The miner, which is majority owned by state-run China Minmetals Corp, said in a […]
Reasons for optimism for Australian market
Signs of a flattening coronavirus curve in Australia and higher oil prices could bolster the local share market as it resumes trading although US futures were pointing to an overnight drop on Wall Street. The session after the Easter holiday is always difficult to predict, with the Australian market playing […]