Turkish Airlines Rides Tailwinds for Peer-Beating Stock Recovery - Bloomberg

Turkish Airlines Rides Tailwinds for Peer-Beating Stock Recovery - Bloomberg:

The aviation industry’s recovery from the devastating coronavirus pandemic is certain to be long and slow. But you wouldn’t think so if you based your view on the shares of Turkey’s flag carrier.

Turkish Airlines has rallied by more than 60% in Istanbul trading from its lows in March, outperforming the 15 emerging-market airline stocks included in the MSCI EM Airlines Index. Shares in local low-cost rival Pegasus Airlines, which doesn’t feature in the MSCI gauge, have more than doubled.

HSBC Holdings Plc analysts in April described the gains in the Turkish aviation companies’ shares as “detached from fundamentals.” Others partly attribute the jump in Turkish Airlines to it being a laggard in 2019, when the stock dropped 10%. Another factor cited is a yearning among local investors for returns, given increasingly unattractive rates on their bank deposit accounts.

Oil Prices for May 29, 2020: Brent Crude, WTI - Bloomberg

Oil Prices for May 29, 2020: Brent Crude, WTI - Bloomberg:

Oil posted its biggest monthly advance on record, just a few weeks after prices made a dramatic plunge below zero.

Crude surged about 88% in May, with U.S. futures on Friday rising above $35 a barrel for the first time since March, driven by massive supply curbs by producers across the world. Still, prices are well below levels at the start of the year, and demand that was crushed by the coronavirus crisis may need to show a sustained improvement for the rally to extend further.

U.S. crude futures fluctuated Friday, as Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell defended aggressive action to shield the economy as the coronavirus pandemic took hold. Prices surged at the close, with West Texas Intermediate oil settling 5.3% higher at $35.49 a barrel, after falling as much as 4% earlier in the day. Futures posted the biggest monthly jump in data going back to 1983.

#SaudiArabia says it provided $40 billion to PIF from foreign reserves - Reuters

Saudi Arabia says it provided $40 billion to PIF from foreign reserves - Reuters:

Saudi Arabia transferred a total of 150 billion riyals ($40 billion) from central bank foreign reserves to fund investments by sovereign wealth fund PIF in March and April, the finance minister said on Friday. 


Minister Mohammed al-Jadaan also said in a statement that the government would continue to implement development plans to diversify the economy, increase local content and support private sector growth.

Aviation News: Air Traffic Won’t Recover for at Least Three Years, S&P Says - Bloomberg

Aviation News: Recovery at Least Three Years, S&P Says - Bloomberg:

The aviation industry’s recovery from the coronavirus outbreak will be long and slow, with passenger numbers likely to stay below pre-pandemic levels through 2023, according to S&P Global Ratings, which warned of more rating downgrades for airports over the next few months.

Global air passenger numbers will drop as much as 55% this year, a far steeper slump than previously estimated, analysts including Tania Tsoneva and Julyana Yokota wrote in a report dated May 28. Any recovery will depend on factors including how governments ease travel restrictions, people’s willingness to fly again and the extent of economic damage from the outbreak, they said.

Some countries are gradually allowing flights to operate following lockdowns and restrictions on movement, but volumes remain low. Airports are struggling for business as demand for services such as dining and duty-free shopping essentially evaporated.

Column: U.S. crude stocks swell as tankers from Saudi Arabia unload - Kemp - Reuters

Column: U.S. crude stocks swell as tankers from Saudi Arabia unload - Kemp - Reuters:

U.S. petroleum inventories increased sharply last week as the fleet of tankers sent from Saudi Arabia at the height of the volume war started to discharge their crude while the recovery in domestic fuel use remained sluggish.

Total stocks of crude and products outside the strategic petroleum reserve climbed by almost 15 million barrels to a record 1.41 billion barrels, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

Crude inventories jumped almost 8 million barrels to 534 million barrels, reversing a two-week draw, and the largest inventory build for four weeks (“Weekly petroleum status report”, EIA, May 28).

Increased crude stocks were driven by a sharp acceleration in the volume of imports clearing customs, with around half of it discharged from tankers loaded with Saudi crude at the peak of the volume war in March and April.

UPDATE 2-NMC holding company likely to be liquidated or dissolved -administrators - Reuters

UPDATE 2-NMC holding company likely to be liquidated or dissolved -administrators - Reuters:

Joint administrators for NMC Health Plc, the holding company of UAE-based healthcare provider NMC Group, have said the most likely resolution of the company’s situation was now either dissolution or liquidation.

Administrators from consulting firm Alvarez and Marsal Europe were appointed in April to oversee the hospital operator on an application from one of its biggest creditors, Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank.

The bank has since begun criminal proceedings against an unspecified number of individuals at the company, which has been delisted from the London Stock Exchange and is now the subject of a UK accounting investigation.

The administrators said it would not be possible to conclude the outcome of the process until all investigations into the company have progressed and the liability position is ascertained.

Oil analysts see prices edging up but still capped below $40/bbl: Reuters poll - Reuters

Oil analysts see prices edging up but still capped below $40/bbl: Reuters poll - Reuters:

Oil prices will gradually gain this year with demand improving and supply falling, although tensions between the United States and China are hanging over the coronavirus-hit market, a Reuters poll showed on Friday.

The survey of 43 analysts forecast Brent crude would average $37.58 a barrel in 2020, about 5% above April’s $35.84 consensus, but still lower than the $42.37 average so far this year.

U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude is seen averaging $32.78 a barrel, up from $31.47 last month, after a brief historic fall in the front-month futures contract to minus $40 in April.

“The rise in demand may be painstakingly slow in the coming weeks and months, but it is expected to gradually rise over the course of the year,” said Marshall Steeves, energy markets analyst at IEG Vantage.

Oil falls but remains set for biggest monthly gain in years - Reuters

Oil falls but remains set for biggest monthly gain in years - Reuters:

Oil prices were dragged sharply lower on Friday by weak U.S. fuel demand, fears of a second wave of coronavirus cases in South Korea and a worsening in U.S.-China relations, but were still on track for a hefty monthly gain.

July Brent crude LCOc1 fell $1.16, or 3.3%, to $34.13 a barrel by 0927 GMT while the more active August contract fell $1.11, or 3.1%, to $34.92. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude CLc1 was down $1.28, or 3.8%, at $32.43.

Both contracts were on course for their first weekly loss after for consecutive weeks of gains that leave them set for the biggest monthly gains in years thanks to production cuts and optimism over Chinese-led demand recovery, analysts said.

WTI is on track for a record monthly gain of 72% in May, with Brent set for a 35% increase that would represent its strongest monthly rise since March 1999.