Market Information Tuesday 21 April 2020

The market price of a barrel of West Texas Intermediate (WTI), the leading type of oil in the United States, turned negative on Monday as a result of the corona crisis. This implies that oil companies are paying traders to buy oil, in order to avoid having to shut down oil production in certain oilfields. This is the first time that the American oil price has turned negative. After the price fall, a barrel of American oil of 42 gallons was worth only USD -/- 28.00 just after 20:30 GMT+1, which implies a drop of more than 250%.

The eurozone economy will decrease even more this year due to the corona crisis than previously expected because of stricter measures to counter the virus outbreak. This is what credit rating agency Standard & Poor’s (S&P) writes in a new report. The agency now expects the euro area economy to contract by 7.3%, compared to the forecast of 2% last month. The outlook has worsened as a result of the extension of lockdowns in many European countries. In 2021, however, 5.6% economic growth is forecasted for the nineteen EU countries.

Producers and importers of many of the items on which the United States has imposed import tariffs do not, for the time being, have to pay those tariffs. U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin has announced that because of the corona crisis companies are allowed to postpone their payment for up to ninety days.

The 6M Euribor decreased with 1 basis point to -0.20% compared to previous business day. The 10Y Swap increased with 3 basis points to -0.05% compared to previous business day.

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