16 - 31 March 2020 The Asian Independent

12 16-03-2020 to 31-03-2020 BUSINESS
www.theasianindependent.co.uk
China’s industrial production
falls 13.5% in 30-year low
Beijing, China’s industrial production
plummeted 13.5 per cent year-onyear
in the first two months of 2020,
its worst decline in 30 years, due to the
impact of the novel coronavirus pandemic,
the countrys national statistics
office said on Monday.
The figure, well below analysts’
forecasts, who predicted about a 1.5
per cent growth, is the worst for industrial
production since January 1990’s
21.20 per cent drop, when the statistics
were first gathered, reports Efe news.
This drop is a stark contrast to the
December 2019 data, which showed
that Chinese industrial production
increased by 6.9 per cent year-on-year.
Industrial production measures the
activity of large companies with a
minimum 20 million yuan ($2 million)
annual turnover.
Manufacturing production fell by
15.7 percent in the same period, due to
the 6.5 per cent drop in production in
the mining sector.
Products of which manufacturing
did grow in January and February are
face masks (127.5 per cent), smartwatches
(119.7 per cent), frozen meat
(13.5 per cent) and instant noodles
(11.4 per cent), highlighting the
demand caused by prevention measures
against the virus.
Retail sales fell 20.5 per cent yearon-year,
according to the statistics
office. The agency also offered
China’s fixed-asset investment data
Monday, which plunged 24.5 per cent
compared to the same period last year.
“While domestic conditions should
All In Red: Sensex
tanks 2,700 points,
Nifty below 9,200
Mumbai, March 16 (IANS) Coronavirus fears continued to
cause mayhem in the stock markets as the BSE Sensex ended over
2,700 points lower and the Nifty50 on the National Stock
Exchange (NSE) settled below the 9,200 mark.
This is the second biggest single-day fall in the history of
Sensex. The rout in the domestic market was in line with the
decline in Asian and European markets.
The Sensex closed at 31,390.07, lower by 2,713.41 points or
7.96 per cent from the previous close of 34,103.48. It hat opened
at the day's high of 33,103.24 and touched an intra-day low of
31,276.30 points. The NSE Nifty50 closed lower by 757.80 points
or 7.61 per cent from its previous close of 9,197.40.
A bear run was witnessed across sector on Monday with banking
and financial and metal stocks witnessing heavy selling.
As all the stocks on the Sensex ended in the red, IndusInd Bank
lost the most (17.5 per cent down), followed by Tata Steel (11.02
per cent), HDFC (10.94 per cent), Axis Bank (10.38 per cent) and
ICICI Bank (9.96 per cent). Yes Bank stocks bucked the bearish
trend and surged on Monday and closed 45.21 per cent at Rs 37.10
per share as the bank's reconstruction scheme has come into effect.
The bank has also said that it will resume its full-fledged operations
on Wednesday.
Further, shares of SBI Cards and Payments Services made a
weak debut on the stock exchanges on Monday as it opened at Rs
658, nearly 13 per cent lower than its issue price of Rs 755.It
ended at Rs 683.20, lower by Rs 71.80 or 9.51 per cent from its
issue price.
improve slowly in the coming months,
the mounting global disruption from
the coronavirus will hold back the
pace of recovery,” analyst Julian
Evans-Pritchard of British consultancy
firm Capital Economics said in a
report, adding that the data had been
much weaker than expected and pointed
to a deeper recession than that of
the 2008 global financial crisis.
According to Evans-Pritchard, “the
March data is likely to be even
worse”. “Admittedly, the high-frequency
data we track show that economic
activity has started to recover
gradually in recent weeks,” he said.
“But the slump in February was diluted
in the data by being averaged with
January, when most of the disruption
had yet to be felt.”
Covid-19: US mulling
plan to incentivise firms
to relocate home
New York : President Donald Trump's administration
is considering a plan to give incentives to US companies
to relocate their operations back home after the
disruptions caused by the coronavirus pandemic, his
Economic Advisor Larry Kudlow said on Monday.
The incentives could take the form of a 100 per cent
write-off of expenses on structures, equipment, R&D
and intellectual property, he told reporters at the White
House after a teleconference Trump had with leaders of
the G7 countries. "That would pay for the moving
expenses of American companies based in China.
Right there, that would pay for their moving expenses."
But Kudlow added that nothing was firm as yet
and "I'm tossing it out as something we're thinking
about. I'm not here to form - the President hasn't signed
off on it. It's something worth thinking about".
US companies are facing disruptions because they
are not able to get manufactured goods and parts from
China, where manufacturing has been shut down. Such
a programme could also affect countries other than
China where US companies have located operations
and also deal a blow to globalisation.
Wall Street plunged again Monday morning and
despite one stop in trading the negative hovered around
9 per cent at noon despite the Federal Reserve cutting
interest rates to nearly zero per cent on Sunday.
Asked if a global recession was around the corner,
Kudlow avoided the "R" word and said: "We are going
to be challenged, no question about it. We have a big
challenge. I've been saying that and I'll continue to say
it. I'm not going to label it one thing or another."
About Wall Street, he said: "This market decline's
tough. Very tough." But he downplayed its effect,
asserting: "My own view, right or wrong, better or
worse, I've always advocated long-term investing for
myself and my family and friends.
US stocks go down
despite Fed relief, Dow
falls 2,700 points
Mumbai : Stock markets in the
US continued a freefall on Monday
as both Dow Jones Industrial
Average and the S&P500 slumped
over 7 per cent lower circuit to trigger
15-minute halt in trading.
Trade, however, has resumed in
both indices and the indices have
fallen over 10 per cent. Currently,
Dow Jones is trading at 20,469.58,
lower by 2,716.04 points or 11.71
per cent from its previous close.
S&P500 has fallen nearly 11 per
cent or 295.63 points to 2,415.39.
The growing concerns of the coronavirus
crisis persisted even as the
US Federal Reserve has taken the
extraordinary action of slashing the
interest rate effectively to zero in
emergency action to prop up the US
economy battered by the coronavirus
crisis and facing the risk of a recession.
Federal Reserve Chairman
Jerome Powell said on Sunday
evening that the rate cut and other
actions were taken were meant to
help the US "weather this difficult
period."
Other measures announced by the
Federal Reserve, the country's central
bank commonly referred to as
the Fed, include pumping $700 billion
into the US economy by buying
government bonds worth $500 billion
and $200 billion of mortgagebacked
securities.
US President Donald Trump has
already declared a national emergency
in the world's biggest economy
over the coronavirus pandemic.
The Asian and European shares
also plunged earlier in the day.
In India, the benchmark BSE
Sensex recorded its second biggest
single day fall as it ended over 2,700
points lower. The Nifty50 on the
National Stock Exchange (NSE) settled
below the 9,200 mark.
The Sensex closed at 31,390.07,
lower by 2,713.41 points or 7.96 per
cent from the previous close of
34,103.48. The NSE Nifty50 closed
lower by 757.80 points or 7.61 per
cent from its previous close of
9,197.40.