Archives of “May 2020” month

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China reportedly won’t prioritise inviting international experts to investigate source of coronavirus

  
  Analysis

AFP reports on the matter

The headline cites Beijing’s ambassador to the UN in Geneva, in saying that China will not prioritise inviting international exports in to investigate the source of the coronavirus until after the pandemic is beaten.

Just be reminded that China did say that they will be open to working with the WHO on this earlier today though. Then again, that in itself isn’t a strong vote of confidence considering the WHO’s current reputation among the international community.
Even if China may not have ill intentions on this matter, it is hardly comforting and just feeds sentiment of a divide between China and the Western world. Back to this:

UK April construction PMI 8.2 vs 21.7 expected

  
Analysis, Economy
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Latest data released by Markit – 6 May 2020

  • Prior 39.3
Construction activity in the UK crashes to an all-time low last month as clients freeze spending plans amid the fallout from the virus outbreak and business shutdowns. The real worry here is that this could lead to long-term disruptions and cause construction activity to be more subdued for a longer period than the drop seen in April. Markit notes that:

“The rapid plunge in UK construction output during April stands out even in a month of record low PMI data for the manufacturing and service sectors. Widespread site closures and business shutdowns across the supply chain meant that vast swathes of the construction sector halted all activity in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Around 86% of survey respondents reported a fall in business activity since March, while only 3% signalled an expansion. House building and commercial work were unsurprisingly the hardest hit, but civil engineering activity also fell at by far the fastest pace since the survey began in April 1997.

“A drop in construction activity of historic proportions in April looks set to be followed by a gradual reopening of sites in the coming weeks, subject to strict reviews of safety measures.

“However, the prospect of severe disruption across the supply chain will continue over the longer-term and widespread use of the government job retention scheme has been needed to cushion the impact on employment. Looking ahead, construction companies widely commented on worries about cash flow, rising operating costs and severely reduced productivity, as well as a slump in demand for new construction projects.”

Eurozone April final services PMI 12.0 vs 11.7 prelim

  
Analysis, Economy
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Latest data released by Markit – 6 May 2020

  • Composite PMI 13.6 vs 13.5 prelim
The preliminary release can be found here. A tad better than initial estimates but again, it doesn’t take away the fact that the euro area economy saw a record contraction in business activity during the month of April. A summary to wrap your head around:
Markit notes that:

“The extent of the euro area economic downturn was laid bare by record downturns in every country surveyed in April, with output falling at unprecedented rates across the region’s manufacturing and services sectors.

“With a large part of the region’s economy shut down while COVID-19 infections spiked higher, the economic data for April were inevitably going to be bad, but the scale of the decline is still shocking. The survey data are indicative of GDP falling at a quarterly rate of around 7.5%, far surpassing the worst decline seen in the global financial crisis. Jobs are also being lost at a rate never previously seen.

“Hopefully, with coronavirus curves flattening and governments making moves to ease lockdown restrictions, many sectors should start to see output and demand pick up. The process will be only very gradual, however, as governments juggle between reviving economies and preventing a second wave of infections. Most companies will inevitably need to work at levels well below full capacity and sectors such as retail, travel, tourism and recreation – already the hardest hit – will continue to be badly affected by social distancing.

“While the rate of decline may ease in coming months, we do not expect to see any material signs of recovery until the second half of the year, and it is likely to be several years before the output lost due to the 

South Korea spy agency says no signs that Kim Jong Un received heart surgery – report

  
Analysis, Politics
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Yonhap reports on the matter

At this point, it is pretty much believe what you will. Kim mysteriously disappeared for three weeks – with reports surfacing initially that he had a botched heart surgery – before reappearing on Saturday as local media released some images of him:

Kim
Perhaps he just had the case of COVID-19. Who knows really?
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