Weekly news summary for April 23 to 29, 2021

Friday, April 23, 2021: Oil Prices Fall to Their Lowest in a Week

Oil prices declined to their lowest in a week on Friday after India, one of the world’s largest oil importers, recorded the highest single-day increase of new COVID-19 infections.

The US West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures dropped 0.5% to $61.03 per barrel, while Brent crude oil futures shed 0.6% to $64.96 per barrel.

Monday, April 26, 2021: India Reports Record New COVID-19 Cases

India’s COVID-19 crisis continued as it reported new cases for the fifth straight day as a nationwide increase in the virus overwhelmed the country’s healthcare segment that is facing a shortage in resources.

India recorded more than 350,000 new infections and 2,812 deaths on Monday, and several analysts saw both numbers were considerably under-reported, particularly in the poorer rural areas, while reports of hospitals not having enough oxygen for patients in intensive care had grown.

Tuesday, April 27, 2021: Palladium Registers New Record High

Palladium futures climbed to a new record high of $2,951 per ounce on Tuesday, as the precious metal reacted to demand from a growing automotive sector that, as suggested by Tesla Inc.’s sales of regulatory credits, still needs to ramp up efforts on reducing emissions.

Copper futures also reached a new 10-year high, another indirect proof of the thriving electric vehicle (EV) industry, while US soybeans futures and US corn futures both gained over 3.5% overnight.

Wednesday, April 28, 2021: Alphabet Posts Better Q1 Earnings, Revenue Up 34%

Alphabet Inc. reported better-than-expected figures for the first quarter of 2021 and announced a new $50-billion buyback program, which led its shares to gain more than 4% in after-hours trading.

The company brought in earnings of $26.29 per share, while its revenue rose 34% to $55 billion in the quarter, with $31 billion of it generated by its signature Google products, search, maps, and YouTube.

Thursday, April 29, 2021: US Dollar Trades Near Lows on Fed’s Dovish Stance

The US dollar was mostly unchanged on Thursday, trading close to multi-week lows after the Federal Reserve kept the benchmark interest rate near zero, which raised optimism over global economic recovery.

The US dollar index was flat at $90.610 against a basket of six major currencies, not far from a nine-week low, while the euro shed 0.1% to 1.2119 against the greenback and the dollar added 0.2% to 108.78 against the Japanese yen.

Get the latest economy news, trading news, and Forex news on Finance Brokerage. Check out our comprehensive trading education and list of best Forex brokers list here. If you are interested in following the latest news on the topic, please follow Finance Brokerage on Google News.

Source: https://www.financebrokerage.com/weekly-news-summary-for-april-23-to-29-2021/