- The U.S. recession is here. But how quickly the world's biggest economy will recover will depend on how much aid the government gives it, and how effectively it can be used to stem what are already millions of job losses, Fed officials said on Thursday.
The dollar edged toward an almost 2% weekly rise on Friday, boosted by a surge in the oil price and as investors sought safety amid the worsening economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic.
Singapore's purchasing managers' index slumped to a record low in March as the coronavirus pandemic caused steep declines in both domestic and overseas orders, IHS Markit said Friday. The PMI fell to 33.3 in March from 47.0 in February, touching the lowest level since the survey began in August 2012, the data showed. The 50.0 level separates expansion from contraction.
By Ruth Simon, Peter Rudegeair and Amara Omeokwe. Hours before small businesses can apply for forgivable loans from the $2 trillion financial relief package, some of the biggest U.S. banks aren't ready to handle an expected flood of applications from potential borrowers. JPMorgan Chase& Co. told its small-business customers Thursday that it doesn't expect to start accepting loan applications on Friday.
* Oil surge, dire U.S. data help dollar higher. * Dollar set to gain about 2% for the week, best since mid-March. * U.S. payrolls eyed at 1230 GMT. * Graphic: World FX rates in 2020 https://tmsnrt.rs/2RBWI5E. By Tom Westbrook.
Japan's services sector contracted at the fastest pace since the global financial crisis in March as a shock to demand from the coronavirus pandemic greatly hit business activity and expectations.
Global credit rating agency S&P Global Ratings on Thursday affirmed the United States' sovereign credit ratings at 'AA+/A-1+' with a stable rating outlook, amid the coronavirus outbreak, joining Fitch Ratings, which affirmed the world's largest economy last week.
Ireland's central bank said on Friday the shock to the Irish economy from the coronavirus pandemic could be greater than in any year of the financial crisis that brought the country to the brink of bankruptcy a decade ago.
Honduras' congress on Thursday authorized the government to issue debt worth up to $2.5 billion to help the Central American country weather impacts from coronavirus.
South Korea's foreign exchange reserves fell by the most in more than 11 years at the end of March as authorities sold dollars to steady the local FX market hammered by the coronavirus pandemic and as the greenback firmed, the central bank said on Friday. FX reserves held by the Bank of Korea totalled a $400.21 billion as of end-March, the smallest since May 2018.
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