(Bloomberg) — Confirmed coronavirus cases rose to 118,475 after a surge in Italy. The Bank of England cut interest rates in the latest attempt by a major central bank to shield the economy from the spreading epidemic, and the European Central Bank’s president warned of a significant economic shock.
U.K. and European stocks advanced following the BOE rate cut, while U.S. equity futures dropped after the Trump administration failed to to offer details on its economic package. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is set to announce financial measures on Wednesday.
Key Developments:
Italy set to raise stimulus plan for the fourth time in a monthCure depends on rare lab mice, but there aren’t enough of themAboard Air Force One, Trump was shaken into action on virusFed faces debate on whether and how quickly to cut rates to zero
Subscribe to a daily update on the virus from Bloomberg’s Prognosis team here.
Click VRUS on the terminal for news and data on the coronavirus and here for maps and charts. For analysis of the impact from Bloomberg Economics, click here. To see the impact on oil and commodities demand, click here.
BOE Has More Policy Space If Needed (5:20 p.m. HK)
Incoming Governor Andrew Bailey said the Bank of England had more policy space if needed and noted the monetary policy committee was scheduled to meet later this month. The central bank had earlier cut interest rates in an emergency move and announced measures to help keep credit flowing through the economy. The move to cut the benchmark rate by 50 basis points came a week after the Federal Reserve slashed its main rate, and just hours before the U.K. government announces its budget.
The European Central Bank, which holds its policy meeting tomorrow, is expected to join the growing wave of crisis easing with its own measures. Its president Christine Lagarde said Europe risks a major economic shock similar to the financial crisis unless leaders act urgently on the coronavirus.
Brazil to Scale Back Privatization Push (5 p.m. HK)
The Brazilian government decided to focus efforts in the privatization of two companies for now, adjusting its ambitious estimates amid the fallout from the coronavirus epidemic, an official with direct knowledge of said.
Nigeria Plans Steps to Counter Economic Fallout (4:57 p.m. HK)
Nigeria’s fiscal and monetary authorities will announce measures in coming days to deal with the economic fallout from the coronavirus outbreak. “We will not hesitate to deploy additional measures to shield the Nigerian economy from headwinds,” central bank Governor Godwin Emefiele said at a conference in the capital, Abuja, on Wednesday.
Trump Retweet Fuels Tensions With Beijing (4:50 p.m. HK)
Both U.S. President Donald Trump and China’s Xi Jinping have good reasons to deflect political blame for the coronavirus outbreak. And that has both of them zeroing in on the pathogen’s name.
As the disease formally designated as COVID-19 expands across the U.S., Trump and other top Republicans have sought to highlight the outbreak’s foreign origin and even use it to justify curbs on immigration — including a wall on the southern border with Mexico. On Tuesday, Trump retweeted supporter Charlie Kirk calling it the “China virus” — with the president agreeing “we need the Wall more than ever!”
Beijing Tightens Quarantine Measures for Inbound Visitors (4:41 p.m. HK)
Beijing will quarantine all inbound visitors from overseas for 14 days, Zhang Qiang, an official of the city’s party committee, said. Beijing earlier quarantined inbound travelers from South Korea, Italy, Iran and Japan.
Turkey Confirms First Case, Says Came Via Europe (4:33 p.m. HK)
Turkey confirmed the first case of the coronavirus had been identified in the country as the epidemic grips neighbors including Iran, the hardest-hit nation after China and Italy. “A male Turkish citizen has tested positive for coronavirus on Tuesday evening,“ Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said, adding that the person contracted the virus from Europe and that his family was also placed under monitoring. Vacations for all health personnel have been canceled as a precaution.
Belgium Has First Death From Coronavirus (4:31 p.m. HK)
The Belgian government announced the first death from the coronavirus Wednesday, according to Belga News Agency. The victim was a 90-year-old treated in Brussels. Belgium so far has 267 confirmed cases of the virus.
Heathrow Introduces Regular Deep Cleaning (4:31 p.m. HK)
London Heathrow airport has introduced regular deep cleaning across all terminals, it said after two British Airways baggage handlers last week tested positive for coronavirus. Europe’s busiest airport on Wednesday reported an almost 20% drop in Asia Pacific traffic during February. Overall passenger numbers were down almost 5% from a year earlier after adjusting for the extra day this year.
With cases rising in the U.K., the airport said it has a dedicated team from Public Health England on site. “The threat of coronavirus is an increasing challenge for the U.K. and we are working day and night to ensure Britain’s front door is open and safe for our people and passengers,” said Heathrow Airports Holdings Ltd. Chief Executive Officer John Holland-Kaye.
Iran Urges U.S. to Lift Sanctions on Food, Medicine (4:16 p.m. HK)
Iran urged the U.S. to ease sanctions that have been preventing the Islamic Republic from importing medicines and food needed in its efforts to fight the coronavirus outbreak. Abbas Mousavi, spokesman for Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said Washington’s sanctions have effectively blocked every financial channel available to Iran for buying food and pharmaceuticals.
Separately, the semi-official Mehr News agency reported that four senior officials in a single province, including a regional head of the Red Crescent Society, had tested positive and are under quarantine. The governor of the capital of Mazandaran province, which has one of the worst rates of infection in the country, is also among the officials receiving treatment, Mehr reported.
Iceland Cuts Rates at Emergency Meeting (4:08 p.m HK)
Iceland’s central bank cut its benchmark interest rate to its lowest level ever at an emergency meeting called to counter the impact of the coronavirus. The 7-day term deposit rate was cut by 0.5 percentage points to 2.25%.
Virus to Cut Adidas Profit by Half a Billion Dollars (3:41 p.m. HK)
Adidas AG said first-quarter sales in China will fall by 800 million euros to 1 billion euros ($908 million to $1.1 billion) because of the coronavirus and that business is slowing in Japan and South Korea. The company said sales in China were 80% below 2019 levels from Jan. 25 through end of February, but since then stores and warehouses have gradually reopened and consumer traffic is slowly picking up.
Separately, Puma said its outlook for the year was based on the assumption that the coronavirus situation would normalize in the short term, but it no longer expects that to occur.
Abe Faces Rising Calls for More Stimulus (3:39 p.m. HK)
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe still faces calls to put together another large-scale stimulus to shake off the impact of the coronavirus, despite a second round of emergency measures unveiled on Tuesday. Most economists see the world’s third-largest economy falling into recession despite the two rounds of measures aimed at helping struggling businesses and workers.
Tokyo Disney Extends Shutdown (2:15 p.m. HK)
Oriental Land Co. delayed the re-opening of the Tokyo Disneyland and DisneySea resorts until at least early April, following a call by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to extend cancellations of large events for another 10 days as Japan battles the spread of coronavirus. Oriental Land, which operates the resorts, had initially planned to keep the parks shut until March 15, having closed them on Feb. 29.
China’s Hubei Province Allows Some Work Resumption (2:07 p.m. HK)
Hubei, the Chinese province at the center of the coronavirus outbreak, will allow some work resumption after the region was locked down in January. Companies in sectors including utilities, daily necessities and agriculture necessities in Wuhan city and Hubei province can restart production, the provincial government said in a statement.
E3 Games Show Slated for June Called Off (1:08 p.m. HK)
The Electronic Entertainment Expo, a massive video-game conference scheduled to take over the Los Angeles Convention Center in June, is being canceled due to coronavirus concerns.
The cancellation is planned to be announced at 9:30 a.m. Los Angeles time on March 11 by the Entertainment Software Association, according to a person familiar with the matter.
E3 is the biggest event on the gaming industry calendar, serving as a focal point for new hardware and software announcements.
Three TSA Agents in California Test Positive (1 p.m. HK)
Three Transportation Security Administration agents at Mineta San Jose International Airport in California have tested positive for coronavirus, the agency said. All TSA employees they came in contact with in the past 14 days have been quarantined at home. Santa Clara County, which has reported 45 cases, has banned large gatherings of more than 1,000 people effective midnight Wednesday.
Minister Says Olympics Postponement ‘Inconceivable’ (12:47 p.m HK)
A postponement or delay to the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo is “inconceivable,” the Japanese minister responsible for the games said, responding to comments made by a member of the organizing committee which suggested a possible delay of up to two years as the coronavirus continues to spread.
Cathay Projects ‘Substantial’ Loss on Virus (12:38 p.m. HK)
Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd. forecast its first loss in two years as the coronavirus hurts travel demand and aggravates the challenges facing a carrier that battled through the Hong Kong protests last year.
Hong Kong’s flag carrier is expecting a “substantial loss” in the first half of 2020, it said in a statement. That would be the first time the company lost money since the first half of 2018.
The airline has slashed capacity to mainland China by 90% and reduced its entire international network by about 40% because of the coronavirus. Cathay, which is particularly exposed to the virus because close to half of its revenue comes from Hong Kong and mainland China, also asked employees to take unpaid leave as it tries to weather the latest crisis.
U.S. Cases Top 1,000 in Johns Hopkins Tally (11:37 a.m. HK)
The U.S. has 1,001 confirmed cases of coronavirus, according to a Johns Hopkins University tally, which also shows 28 deaths in the country. The list includes cruise ship cases, with 46 from the Diamond Princess and 21 from the Grand Princess.
The U.S. has shifted into a new phase of its coronavirus response after efforts to stamp out sparks of an outbreak have failed. Authorities now are focusing on limiting damage.
For weeks, the biggest effect of the smattering of identified cases had been a mild sense of worry. That changed this week, with universities canceling classes, patients popping up in offices and nursing homes, and local authorities limited some public gatherings.
Robert Redfield, director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said Tuesday that America had lost valuable time tracking the virus; some regions now can merely try to cope with its spread rather than stop it.
White House to Meet Google, Facebook (9:42 a.m. HK)
U.S. Chief Technology Officer Michael Kratsios will host a meeting Wednesday with Google, Amazon.com Inc., Facebook Inc. and other technology companies to coordinate responses to the outbreak.
Social media companies have been attempting to prevent the spread of misinformation, while companies such as Amazon have tried to manage panic selling of goods.
–With assistance from Adveith Nair, Robert Hutton, Sophie Alexander, Jason Scott, Ryan Beene, Justin Sink, Greg Sullivan, Anurag Kotoky, Joyce Cutler, Dina Bass, Golnar Motevalli, Viktoria Dendrinou, Siddharth Philip and Charlotte Ryan.
To contact Bloomberg News staff for this story: Adveith Nair in London at [email protected];Jeff Sutherland in Tokyo at [email protected]
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Stuart Wallace at [email protected], Adveith Nair, Angus Whitley
<p class="canvas-atom canvas-text Mb(1.0em) Mb(0)–sm Mt(0.8em)–sm" type="text" content="For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com” data-reactid=”83″>For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com
<p class="canvas-atom canvas-text Mb(1.0em) Mb(0)–sm Mt(0.8em)–sm" type="text" content="Subscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.” data-reactid=”84″>Subscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.
©2020 Bloomberg L.P.
Add Comment