Tuesday 14th April 2020

The US Fed has extended its QE shopping list. Agreeing to buy junk bonds from corporations that are suffering the impacts of the Corona virus. Phil Dobbie asks NAB’s Ray Attrill whether it’ll work, given some government and central bank measures are failing to cut through. The market was impressed initially, but shares fell again today. Oil prices are also falling again, despite the OPEC+ agreement to cut oil production. Clearly, it’s not enough, or there’s concerns that participants won’t follow through. In Europe an agreement has been reached to provide support for governments through the European Stability Mechanism. It’s not gone down well with Italy, who will undoubtedly have to borrow the most and, therefore, pay back the most. Meanwhile, the Aussie dollar continues to be the best performing G20 currency. We look at why that is, and look ahead to today’s NAB Business Survey, US earnings and China’s trade data.