March 5, Thursday Finance Briefing

The Coronavirus Toll as of March 5*;

Number of Cases Worldwide: 95,383

Death: 3,285

Death Rate 3.4%

Covid19 and Beige Book

US Federal Reserve (Fed) said in its latest Beige Book on Wednesday that the spread of COVID-19 has had a negative impact on the American economy.

“There were indications that the coronavirus was negatively impacting travel and tourism in the US Manufacturing activity expanded in most parts of the country,” the Fed said in the Beige Book.

“Some supply chain delays were reported as a result of the coronavirus and several Districts said that producers feared further disruptions in the coming weeks,” the Beige Book noted.

“There were indications that the coronavirus was negatively impacting travel and tourism in the US,” the report said. “Manufacturing activity expanded in most parts of the country; however, some supply chain delays were reported as a result of the coronavirus and several Districts said that producers feared further disruptions in the coming weeks.”

BoC Follows Fed’s Lead

After the Fed’s extraordinary 50 basis point reduction, the Bank of Canada (BoC) also took measures against the threat of the coronavirus, cutting interest rates by 50 basis points, twice above most expectations.

The bank described Covid-19 (corona virus) as a material negative shock to Canada and the global economy.

Opec Cerging On a Decision

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) agreed at a further cut of 1.5 million bdp during their meeting in Vienna, Austria.

Sources speaking to Reuters said though that Russia was agreeing with Opec members on the need for a deeper supply cut to counter the virus effect on demand but was resisting the amount.

The Virus Spreads

Death toll in the US from coronavirus infections rose to 11 on Wednesday as new cases emerged around New York City and Los Angeles, with the cases in the latter leading to a state of emergency declaration by the California Governor Gavin Newsom.

All schools and universities in Italy and Iran were ordered to close for at least two weeks as the number of cases continued to increase in 85 countries, including South Korea, Japan, and Germany.