Global markets traded lower on Thursday even as investors kept a keen eye on the coronavirus pandemic as well as the escalating tensions between the US and China.
- •On Thursday, the US Department of Labor unveiled announced that the number of initial jobless claims for the week ending May 23 fell by 323,000 compared to the previous week’s figure to land at 2,123,000. This brings the total number of claims to more than 40 million in the last 10 weeks.
- •Tesla announced on Thursday that its CEO Elon Musk earned the first tranche of his performance-based pay for keeping the company’s market capitalization above $100 billion. Elon was awarded 1.7 million shares as part of the package worth $775 million based on the current market price of Tesla shares. His stake in the company stands at 18.5% valued at $24 billion.
- •Credit rating agency Standard&Poor’s has announced it has cut Rolls-Royce credit rating status to junk. The British Multinational’s long-term foreign and local currency ratings were also downgraded to BB, with a negative outlook. Earlier in the week, the firm stated it will lay off more staff from previously announced 9,000. The UK Government has announced was looking at possible ways to provide a bailout to the company.
GEOPOLITICS
- •US President Donald Trump on Thursday signed an executive order on social media companies to enable them to be held accountable for content posted by their users. This comes after Twitter flagged some of Trump’s posts due to the alleged fraudulence of his claims, prompting Trump to accuse Twitter of interfering with the upcoming presidential elections.
- •According to Xinhua, Beijing has asked Hong Kong officials to fast track the implementation of an act from its laws that prevents secession and other acts against the Chinese government.
