Market Information Tuesday 14 April 2020

Chinese exports decreased less than expected in March, despite the effects of the coronavirus. This is shown by figures from Chinese customs. Imports also remained stronger than anticipated. However, the full effects of the drop in demand in the United States and Europe may not yet be included in the figures. Chinese exports fell 6.6% in March and imports fell 0.9%. Economists expected exports to fall by 13.9% and imports by 9.8%.

OPEC, Russia and other oil producing countries agreed on Sunday evening to reduce production by 9.7 million barrels per day for the months of May and June. That is about 10% of the quantity produced daily worldwide. US president Trump, who was involved in the negotiations this time, stated that the group of oil producers would actually prefer to reduce production by 20 million barrels a day.

The Federal Reserve Bank of New York is going to reduce the frequency of some repo operations “in light of more stable repo market conditions”. The Fed repeatedly pumped hundreds of billions of dollars into the financial system through so-called repos. Whereas the Fed first carried out two overnight repo transactions per day, as of 4 May this will be reduced to once a day.

In the attachment, market data on money and capital market rates as well as other rates are presented.

10th and 13th of April were bank holidays.