Shares of American e-commerce company Amazon.com Inc. on Tuesday rose to a new all-time high as the coronavirus-related lockdowns pushed customers to increase usage of internet services.
In order to meet the increased demand, the tech giant recently announced it was hiring additional 75,000 workers amid the COVID19 pandemic.
On Tuesday, Amazon’s shares jumped by 5.28% to $2,292, an improvement of over 27% in the last one month.
Oil Prices
Oil prices fell over 5% on Tuesday as virus-related travel halts continued to cause drops in crude demand. Moreover, countries are still waiting on the OPEC+ output cut deal to start producing results in stabilizing the oil markets.
READ; OPEC+ Deal Removes Unnecessary Volatility in the Oil Market
The US Energy Department is said to be negotiating with domestic oil-producers about storing 23 million barrels of oil in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR). Around the same time, Mexico’s President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador declined his country made an oil output cut exchange agreement with the US.
Corporate Announcement
Boeing announced on Tuesday that orders for a total of 150 of its 737 MAX planes have been called off by its partners in March.
At the start of April, Irish aircraft leasing company Avalon dropped orders for 75 of 737 MAX aircraft, while another order for 34 planes was rescinded in March by Brazilian airline GOL. A total of 307 Boeing aircraft orders have been revoked so far this year.
“We are working closely with our customers, many of whom are facing significant financial pressures, to review their fleet plans and make adjustments where appropriate. At the same time, Boeing continues to adjust its order book to adapt to lower-than-planned 737 MAX production in the near term,” the airplane maker said in a statement on its website.
Geopolitics
President Donald Trump has temporarily halted funding to the World Health Organization (WHO) saying the organization failed to ensure timely and accurate sharing of information amid the coronavirus pandemic. He said funds will be temporarily stopped while the situation is further investigated.
During the White House Coronavirus Task Force press briefing, Trump accused the organization of having knowledge about the gravity of the COVID-19 outbreak in China before warning about the potential pandemic. He claimed the lack of accurate information caused thousands of deaths in countries that didn’t implement a travel ban on the nation where it all started.
Meanwhile, former President of the United States Barack Obama on Tuesday endorsed Joe Biden as the presidential candidate of the Democratic Party.
Last week, Biden’s biggest rival this year Bernie Sanders also gave support to the former vice-president, just one week after he had ended his presidential campaign.
