Top Things to Know in the Market on Wednesday, April 15th

• 2020-04-15
• Traiding Idea

The world is facing the worst recession since the 1930s

While governments worldwide are battling the Coronavirus pandemic, the International Monetary Fund has warned that the world economy will experience its worst financial crisis since the Great Depression.

The Washington-based organization said the global economy would contract by 3% in 2020. This is in stark contrast to the organization's previous forecast in January. That month, it had forecast global GDP expansion of 3.3% for this year.

"It is very likely that this year the global economy will experience its worst recession since the Great Depression, surpassing that seen during the global financial crisis a decade ago," Gita Gopinath, chief economist at the International Monetary Fund ( IMF ), said.

In January, global GDP growth was projected to reach 3.4% in 2021. Now, the new forecast is 5.8%.

Gopinath said Tuesday :

"This is a crisis where the economic shock is something that is not exactly controlled by economic policy, as it's unclear when the pandemic will end."

The IMF has named this current crisis ( the Great Lockdown). However, the financial crisis of 2008-2009 was called the "global financial crisis," and the economic recession of the 1930s was called the "Great Depression."

On Wall Street, most of the indices were up. The Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 2.39 % to close at 23,949.76. S&P 500 climbed 3.06 % to 2,846.06. The Nasdaq composite also surged 3.95 % to 8,515.74.

European stock markets

European markets fell on Wednesday, despite some regions have begun lifting restrictions on the coronavirus.

Investors' confidence worsened after the International Monetary Fund said that countries would face their worst recession since the Great Depression of the 1930s.

In London, the FTSE 100 index dropped 0.88 % and closed at 5,791.31. French CAC 40 index rose 0.38 % to closed at 4,523.91 points.

Also, Germany's DAX 30 index surged 1.25 % to 10,696.56. In Spain, the IBEX 35 index climbed 0.54% to 7,108.60.

Asian stock markets

In Asian stock markets, indices performed poorly. Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 dropped 0.45% and closed at 19.550.49. The Hang Seng in Hong Kong lost 0.71% to 24.261.01.

China's Shanghai Composite plunged 0.64% and ended at 3,801.26. In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 index declined 0.38% to 5,466.70.

Among other major Asian indices, TOPIX (Tokyo Stock Price Index) was down.

oil market

Brent crude fell 5 % on Wednesday, pressured by reports suggesting persistent oversupply and collapsing demand Despite the coronavirus crisis.

The International Energy Agency (IEA) said in a report on Wednesday that oil demand fell by 29 million barrels per day in April and was so low that it has been unprecedented in the last 25 years.

''There is no feasible agreement that could cut supply by enough to offset such near-term demand losses,'' the IEA said.

The U.S. West Texas Intermediate ( WTI ) futures surged 0.99%, to settle at $20.30 per barrel. Brent crude futures dropped 0.61%, to $29.41 per barrel.