Struggling to repair COVID damage

News for today, Friday, January 21

The World Bank has lent $750 million to South Africa to support economics in recovery from the pandemic. South Africa, the second economy on the continent, has been damaged hard by COVID. The virus has killed 94 000 people and raised unemployment to a record level. Lockdowns didn’t succeed yet forced thousands of businesses to shut down.

After this week’s positive trend, oil prices dropped: Brent crude futures fell $1.52, and WTI futures decreased by 1.66. Experts say, such a large decrease is associated with a build-up of WTI crude inventories in the United States. However, it is not likely a bull-killer. Oil needs to be refined further to meet demand, while overall, supply remains tight.

Major Asian indexes have slid down today following losses on Wall Street. Japan’s Nikkei decreased 1.47%, and MSCI’s index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was down 1.3%. The selloff trend after the Federal Reserve’s tightening of monetary policy seems to continue. The economy has turned out to be weaker than expected.

The price of Brent crude is $86.91, WTI — $83.97, GBP/USD — 1.3570, EUR/USD — 1.1336, and gold costs $1831.00 per ounce.