Sweden’s gross domestic product (GDP) tumbled 8.6% in the second quarter of the year.
David Oxley, senior Europe economist at Capital Economics, told CNBC via email that Sweden’s sharp GDP contraction “confirms that it has not been immune to Covid, despite the government’s well-documented light-touch lockdown.”
The United States shocked European nations earlier this month when it pulled out of international negotiations over such a tax.
The United States has been a fierce opponent of plans to make digital giants pay more in taxes, as the majority of these firms are American. It is the White House’s view that digital taxes are unfair toward U.S. companies.
U.K. GDP saw its sharpest contraction since 1979 in the first quarter, and the balance-of-trade deficit widened to £21.1 billion ($26.4 billion).
U.K. stocks currently trade at a 19% discount to the MSCI World index, versus an average of 7% since 2002, UBS strategists pointed out in a research note Wednesday.
S&P Global has cut its forecast for U.K. GDP in 2020 to an 8.1% contraction, warning of a “perfect storm” if Britain suffers a second wave of coronavirus infections and fails to negotiate a post-Brexit free trade agreement.
The senators’ backing adds weight to a proposal for additional aid for the ailing airline sector.
Congress set aside $25 billion in aid for passenger airlines the $2.2 trillion CARES Act in March.
The blasts in Beirut, which killed dozens and wounded thousands, “probably (added) to the shine of Gold above $2020,” said a note from Mizuho Bank.
This year, gold prices have shot to record highs since September 2011, as investors fled to safe havens with the pandemic showing no signs of abating and a crashing economy. Silver prices have followed suit.
In the Reserve Bank of Australia’s minutes of its June monetary policy meeting released Tuesday, the central bank’s board “recognised that the substantial, coordinated and unprecedented easing of fiscal and monetary policy in Australia was helping the economy through this difficult period.”
Officials in China’s capital city reported a total of 79 confirmed cases of Covid-19 since June 11.
“The answers lie in careful, systematic, exhaustive investigation of disease clusters to really look at what is happening in these situations and what is causing the amplification of the disease in the human context,” said the WHO’s Dr. Mike Ryan.
As many countries around the world grapple with a resurgence of new Covid-19 cases, Dr. Maria Van Kerkhove said, health officials need to be on alert.
Former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak has been sentenced to 12 years in jail after being found guilty on all seven charges in a case linked to the multi-billion dollar financial scandal at state fund 1MDB.
The busiest week of earnings season rolls on when Visa reports after the bell Tuesday, and options traders are betting on a big payoff when the payment giant’s results cross the wire.
The Dow component’s shares are up nearly 6% on the year thanks to a 35% bounce off the March lows, paving the way for what traders believe will be an earnings report that surprises to the upside.
David Kostin said in a research note dated Friday that analysts at Goldman had been reflecting on a “remarkable” rally during the last three months.
“Most institutional investors have been stunned by the juxtaposition of the sharpest GDP contraction on record with a 36% market rally, as have we,” Kostin said.
“But, the combination of incremental data improvement and extraordinary policy support has been sufficient to assure the forward-looking market that the earnings damage resulting from the virus will ultimately be short-lived,” he added.
