Oil talk and jobless surge

Published: April 2, 2020, 7:27 p.m.

Friday 3rd April 2020 Oil shot up in price overnight – as much as 47 percent for Brent Crude – after President Trump tweeted that Russia and the Saudis would be cutting as much as 15 million barrels a day. Phil Dobbie asks NAB’s David de Garis who really spoke to whom, and the reaction if this all amounts to nought. Meanwhile, shock jobless numbers from the US, with 10 million new claims in a fortnight. Sadly, there’s little end in sight for this turmoil, with more than one million Carona virus cases now recorded globally, and the US now in third place for fatalities. Tonight’s non-manufacturing ISM numbers from the US will provide further evidence of the downturn, whilst the Caixin Services PMI from China will hopefully provide at least one positive.