The prolonged counting of votes in the US presidential elections has made investors around the world nervous. By the end of the trading day, however, financial markets seemed to have decided that Joe Biden would become President. The leading indices rose by 2-4% and the dollar weakened as more stimulus measures were expected from the democratic candidate. On 4th November, financial markets were...

Saudi Arabia and other OPEC countries are discussing an increasing decline in oil production due to the worsening coronavirus situation in the world, The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reports citing sources. In addition, Algerian Energy Minister Abdelmajid Attar said that Russia, Algeria and Iraq have invited OPEC+ countries to maintain the level of oil production decline in the first months of 2021,...

Global foreign direct investment in the first half of 2020 was $364 billion, which is the lowest level since 2013. Compared to the second half of 2019, it fell by 50%. The United States, Switzerland and the Netherlands experienced the strongest decline, while France and Spain were also significantly affected by the pandemic, with increased foreign investment. The global volume of foreign direct...

The European Central Bank (ECB) has in fact asked member governments to raise their prices and budgets to save the eurozone economy, writes Bloomberg. It is expected that the regulator will soon increase its quantitative easing (QE) programme, which will buy government bonds from banks and further reduce rates, thus providing the banking system with additional liquidity for lending. This was...

In Q3 2020, demand for gold across the globe fell by 19% (to 892 tonnes) compared to the same period in 2019. According to a report by the World Gold Council, this number is a record low registered since 2009. The demand has been staying at 2,97 thousand tonnes since the year began, which 10% less than in Q3 2019. Experts explain this fact by the negative impact of the coronavirus pandemic....

According to a survey by the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), global Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) plummeted by 49 percent (to $399 billion) in the first half of 2020 relative to the same time in 2019. The limitations imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic were the key reason for this strong decline. In particular, the number of new investment ventures (data for three quarters)...

According to a survey conducted by the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) among more than 2,000 residents of Beijing, Boston, London and Moscow, half of car owners do not yet want to give up personal cars. It was noted that the respondents most appreciated the opportunity not to be tied to schedules, the opportunity to use their travel time for work and/or entertainment, and the eco-friendliness of...

In comparison to the financial crisis of 2008-2009, when a deep decrease in demand (and subsequently prices) for all commodities was observed, the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on many commodities was distinct, the World Bank says in its new report. Although prices of energy goods are predicted to decline by a third at the end of the year, with a subsequent rebound of 10%, metal prices have...

The U.S. government budget deficit rose 3.2-fold to a record $3.132 trillion for the 2020 fiscal year (ended 30 September), the country's Ministry of Finance said. This figure hit 15.2 percent in terms of GDP - the highest amount since 1945. By contrast, the deficit in the US in 2009 was 9.8 percent during the financial crisis, that is, 4.6 percent of GDP last year. This dramatic rise in the US...