Here’s what you need to know:
A stock rally fades as global markets waver.
A two-day rally in global stocks looked set to ebb on Wednesday, as Asian stocks wavered and futures markets predicted a flat Wall Street opening.
Tokyo stocks were down significantly at midday after being closed for several days because of holidays. Other markets in the Asian-Pacific region were mixed. U.S. Treasury bonds, typically seen by investors as a safe place to park money in times of trouble, fell modestly.
Global stocks have been buoyed this week by prospects of the countries hardest hit by the coronavirus pandemic slowly emerging from economically devastating lockdowns. But other clouds have dimmed investor hopes, like the risks of the United States opening too quickly and Washington’s increasingly bellicose rhetoric against Beijing.
Stocks on Wednesday lost the boost they had received from oil prices, which have rebounded over the past two days. Crude prices fell modestly on futures markets.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 index was down 2.8 percent. Stocks in mainland China, which markets have also been closed this week for a holiday, were flat. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index was up 0.7 percent. South Korea’s Kospi was up 1 percent. In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 was down 0.7 percent.
Airlines are burning through $10 billion a month, an industry executive says.
Even as they have substantially reduced service, the largest U.S. airlines are averaging just 17 passengers on domestic flights and 29 on international flights, according to a copy of congressional testimony from the head of Airlines for America, an industry group.
At the same time, airlines are collectively burning through about $10 billion a month as they cut costs and await the return of passengers, Nicholas Calio, the industry group’s chief executive, said in the testimony, prepared for a Senate hearing about aviation on Wednesday.
“While the industry will do everything it can to mitigate and address the multitude of challenges, no factual doubt exists that the U.S. airline industry will emerge from this crisis a mere shadow of what it was just three short months ago,” Mr. Calio said in the prepared remarks.
The pandemic has virtually wiped out air travel with traffic volumes down 95 percent and more than 3,000 aircraft grounded. More than 100,000 airline employees are working reduced hours or have accepted pay cuts or early retirement, Mr. Calio said.
Mr. Calio addressed complaints from some consumers that airlines were strongly encouraging them to take vouchers instead of refunds for canceled flights, saying that if the carriers refunded all canceled tickets at once they might have to seek bankruptcy protection.
He also thanked Congress for injecting nearly $50 billion in grants and loans into the industry in March and said that the funds would help provide stability “throughout a challenging summer, going into a very uncertain fall season.”
Sheltering in place, people are panic-buying Peloton bikes.
Peloton, which last year endured a rocky initial public offering and a widely mocked holiday ad, is emerging as a potential winner of the quarantine economy. Gyms, boutique studios and personal trainers have been sidelined, but home workout systems are thriving.
Since mid-March, Peloton’s stock has soared 86 percent, valuing the New York company at $10 billion, or twice as much as the gym chain Planet Fitness. Last month, Peloton reported a record: More than 23,000 people had joined one of its live classes.
When Peloton reports quarterly financial results on Wednesday, Wall Street expects the unprofitable company to post rising sales. Analysts pointed to surges in the number of ratings for fitness classes on Peloton’s system and longer waits for delivery of the bikes, which signal higher-than-expected demand. The results may not reveal the full extent of Peloton’s popularity, because they cover only a few weeks of the lockdown period in March.
“Consumer habits are fundamentally changed coming out of this crisis and this pandemic,” said Ron Josey, an analyst at JMP Securities. “A device and service like Peloton comes to the forefront in that.”
The coronavirus crisis is threatening the push for denser housing.
Transportation and denser housing have been the two focal points of urban residential development for the last decade, as cities like Seattle and San Francisco try to combat a severe shortage of affordable housing. But some developers worry that the coronavirus pandemic will stop the momentum as social distancing and telecommuting become the norm.
In areas where car commute times continue to climb, and freeways are at capacity, building denser communities along transit lines is seen as a panacea.
These projects, known as live-leave developments or more formally as transit-oriented developments, can be no-frills projects that focus on housing and getting people in and out fast. Or they can be more centered on amenities, meant to attract not only residents but commercial developers who find the density attractive for restaurants, coffee shops and boutiques.
Most experts say that the demand for transit-oriented development will still exist in some form after the crisis, but that the pandemic will leave a legacy.
Developers are already starting to consider new design plans. Expect more open spaces, broader sidewalks, slimmer roads and promenades in the future.
Reporting was contributed by Carlos Tejada, Kevin Williams, Niraj Chokshi and Mohammed Hadi.
"Market" - Google News
May 06, 2020 at 01:15PM
https://ift.tt/2zfPSyi
Asian Markets Signal End to Global Rally: Live Updates - The New York Times
"Market" - Google News
https://ift.tt/2Yge9gs
https://ift.tt/2Wls1p6
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/bostonglobe/VNG7YMZTRWJ5WBFTJ5NVETPCQI.jpg)
No comments:
Post a Comment