Top Things to Know in the Market on Friday, May 1st

• 2020-05-01
• Traiding Idea

Adidas says profits fell more than 90% in the first quarter due to coronavirus store closure

Adidas predicts that sales of the company will drop by 40% in the second quarter due to the negative impact of the Coronavirus outbreak.

Net sales of German sportswear giant fell 19% in the first quarter to 4.75 billion euros ($ 5.16 billion) as 70% of the company's stores worldwide were closed due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Adidas' net income for the first quarter was $ 26 billion, down 96 % from a year earlier.

 The company said it could not offer a full-year outlook due to the uncertain future of store closures.

Australia shares fall 5 % while Japan's Nikki drop 3 %

Australian and Japanese stocks fell sharply on Friday, with most Asian markets closed due to the holidays.

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 plummeted 5.01% to close at 5,245.90. Shares of major miner BHP slipped 7.76%.

Shares of major banks such as commonwealth bank of Australia and Australia and NewZealand banking group also fell more than 4%.

Japan's Nikkei 225 fell 2.84 % to close at 19,619.35. Shares of Tokyo Electron slipped more than 5%.

Major markets in the region, including China, Hong Kong, South Korea, India, and Singapore, were closed for official holidays on Friday.

Oil rose again, expanding yesterday's 25 % jump

Oil prices continued to rise on Friday, extending the previous session's gains as OPEC+ began cutting oil production to offset a slump in fuel demand caused by the coronavirus pandemic and U.S. crude oil inventories increased lower than expected.

Last week, U.S. crude oil inventories rose by 9 million barrels to 527.6 million barrels, according to the Energy Information Administration. Analysts had forecast an increase of at least 10.6 million barrels.

The U.S. West Texas Intermediate ( WTI ) futures surged 12.09%, to settle at $16.88 per barrel. Brent crude futures jumped 7.5% to $24.23 per barrel.