Oil drops 3% on India's COVID-19 crisis, U.S. pipeline restart | Reuters
Oil prices fell about 3% on Thursday as India's coronavirus crisis deepened and a key U.S. fuel pipeline resumed operations, halting a rally that had lifted crude to an eight-week high after forecasts for a rebound in global demand later in the year.
Brent crude ended the session down $2.27, or 3.3%, at $67.05 a barrel, after rising 1% on Wednesday. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) settled$2.26, or 3.4%, lower at $63.82 a barrel, having risen 1.2% in the previous session.
Both benchmarks marked their biggest daily drops in percentage terms since early April.
Prices also came under pressure as a broader surge in commodity prices, labor shortage and much stronger-than-expected consumer prices data this week have stoked inflation concerns that could force the U.S. Federal Reserve to raise interest rates.
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Thursday, 13 May 2021
Oil drops on India's COVID-19 crisis, pipeline resumption | Reuters
Oil drops on India's COVID-19 crisis, pipeline resumption | Reuters
Oil prices fell more than 2% on Thursday as India's coronavirus crisis deepened and a key U.S. pipeline resumed operations, halting a rally that had lifted crude to an eight-week high after the IEA and OPEC forecast a rebound in global demand later in the year.
Brent crude was down $1.65, or 2.3%, at $67.67 a barrel by 0948 GMT, after rising 1% on Wednesday. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) was down $1.66 cents, or 2.5%, to $64.42 a barrel, having risen 1.2% in the previous session.
If those losses are sustained, both contracts would mark their biggest daily drops in percentage terms since early April.
In a bearish signal for oil demand, a variant of the coronavirus has swept through the countryside in India, the world's third-biggest importer of crude.
Oil prices fell more than 2% on Thursday as India's coronavirus crisis deepened and a key U.S. pipeline resumed operations, halting a rally that had lifted crude to an eight-week high after the IEA and OPEC forecast a rebound in global demand later in the year.
Brent crude was down $1.65, or 2.3%, at $67.67 a barrel by 0948 GMT, after rising 1% on Wednesday. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) was down $1.66 cents, or 2.5%, to $64.42 a barrel, having risen 1.2% in the previous session.
If those losses are sustained, both contracts would mark their biggest daily drops in percentage terms since early April.
In a bearish signal for oil demand, a variant of the coronavirus has swept through the countryside in India, the world's third-biggest importer of crude.
BR Shetty vows again to overturn travel ban and return to #UAE to 'clear my name' | The National
BR Shetty vows again to overturn travel ban and return to UAE to 'clear my name' | The National
Bavagauthu Raghuram Shetty, the founder of NMC Health and payments group Finablr, said he still intends to return to the UAE to clear his name despite a court in India upholding a ruling this week preventing him from leaving the country.
Mr Shetty, who was originally stopped from boarding a flight to Abu Dhabi from Bengaluru airport in November last year, had appealed against a ruling in February that banned him from leaving the country. However, the initial verdict was upheld. The businessman intends to appeal to the Supreme Court to have this overturned.
“My reaction is only to appeal again to the court to see that I come to the UAE, Abu Dhabi as soon as possible. My heart is there. I’m a son of the soil of Abu Dhabi and I’ll come back, with the goodwill and the blessing of the royal family,” he told The National.
“I want to clear my name. I have my family there. I don’t want to die with any liability of a bad name.”
Mr Shetty first arrived in the UAE in 1973 and set up NMC Health two years later, which later grew to become the largest privately-owned healthcare operator in the UAE.
Bavagauthu Raghuram Shetty, the founder of NMC Health and payments group Finablr, said he still intends to return to the UAE to clear his name despite a court in India upholding a ruling this week preventing him from leaving the country.
Mr Shetty, who was originally stopped from boarding a flight to Abu Dhabi from Bengaluru airport in November last year, had appealed against a ruling in February that banned him from leaving the country. However, the initial verdict was upheld. The businessman intends to appeal to the Supreme Court to have this overturned.
“My reaction is only to appeal again to the court to see that I come to the UAE, Abu Dhabi as soon as possible. My heart is there. I’m a son of the soil of Abu Dhabi and I’ll come back, with the goodwill and the blessing of the royal family,” he told The National.
“I want to clear my name. I have my family there. I don’t want to die with any liability of a bad name.”
Mr Shetty first arrived in the UAE in 1973 and set up NMC Health two years later, which later grew to become the largest privately-owned healthcare operator in the UAE.
#Israel's Bank Hapoalim Q1 profit jumps on reversal of loan loss provision | Reuters
Israel's Bank Hapoalim Q1 profit jumps on reversal of loan loss provision | Reuters
Bank Hapoalim, Israel’s largest lender, on Thursday posted a bigger-than-expected jump in quarterly profit, boosted by a reversal of provisions to protect against loan defaults.
Hapoalim earned 1.354 billion shekels ($412 million) in the January-March period, compared with a 192 million shekel profit in the first quarter of 2020 and a profit of 898 million shekels forecast in a Reuters poll of analysts.
Net interest income gained to 2.23 billion shekels from 2.19 billion a year earlier, while it had income for credit losses of 508 million shekels after marking provisions for loan losses of 809 million in the first three months of 2020.
“The results were supported by strong underlying business performance, an improvement in economic indicators, which led to a reduction of the collective provision for credit losses and increased activity in the financial markets,” the bank said.
Hapoalim had said customers deferred 42.5 billion shekels of loans last year but that narrowed to 5.1 billion as of March 31, 1.6% of total credit to the public, from 11.2 billion at the end of January.
At the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic, Israel’s banking regulator had given banks the greenlight to allow loan deferments as lockdowns forced businesses to close temporarily or permanently and led to a spike in unemployment.
Hapoalim said it approved a total of 6 billion shekels in business loans as part of the state-backed loan fund for businesses hurt by the crisis and a loan fund for high-risk businesses.
The bank’s Tier 1 equity-to-risk assets ratio stood at 11.67% at the end of March, versus 11.52% at the end of 2020. Banks will likely not be able to resume dividends until the fourth quarter of this year.
Bank Hapoalim, Israel’s largest lender, on Thursday posted a bigger-than-expected jump in quarterly profit, boosted by a reversal of provisions to protect against loan defaults.
Hapoalim earned 1.354 billion shekels ($412 million) in the January-March period, compared with a 192 million shekel profit in the first quarter of 2020 and a profit of 898 million shekels forecast in a Reuters poll of analysts.
Net interest income gained to 2.23 billion shekels from 2.19 billion a year earlier, while it had income for credit losses of 508 million shekels after marking provisions for loan losses of 809 million in the first three months of 2020.
“The results were supported by strong underlying business performance, an improvement in economic indicators, which led to a reduction of the collective provision for credit losses and increased activity in the financial markets,” the bank said.
Hapoalim had said customers deferred 42.5 billion shekels of loans last year but that narrowed to 5.1 billion as of March 31, 1.6% of total credit to the public, from 11.2 billion at the end of January.
At the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic, Israel’s banking regulator had given banks the greenlight to allow loan deferments as lockdowns forced businesses to close temporarily or permanently and led to a spike in unemployment.
Hapoalim said it approved a total of 6 billion shekels in business loans as part of the state-backed loan fund for businesses hurt by the crisis and a loan fund for high-risk businesses.
The bank’s Tier 1 equity-to-risk assets ratio stood at 11.67% at the end of March, versus 11.52% at the end of 2020. Banks will likely not be able to resume dividends until the fourth quarter of this year.
Oil drops as India's COVID crisis puts brakes on rally | Reuters
Oil drops as India's COVID crisis puts brakes on rally | Reuters
Oil prices fell 1% on Thursday as India's coronavirus crisis deepened, halting a rally that had lifted crude to an eight-week high after the IEA and OPEC forecast a rebound in global demand.
Brent crude was down 74 cents, or 1.1%, at $68.58 a barrel by 0655 GMT, after rising 1% on Wednesday. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) was down 75 cents, or 1.1%, to $65.33 a barrel, having risen 1.2% in the previous session.
"The path for crude prices appears to be higher but until the situation improves in India, WTI will probably struggle to break above the early March high," Edward Moya, senior market analyst at OANDA, said in a note.
Oil demand was already outstripping supply and the shortfall was expected to grow even if Iran boosted exports, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said on Wednesday.
Oil prices fell 1% on Thursday as India's coronavirus crisis deepened, halting a rally that had lifted crude to an eight-week high after the IEA and OPEC forecast a rebound in global demand.
Brent crude was down 74 cents, or 1.1%, at $68.58 a barrel by 0655 GMT, after rising 1% on Wednesday. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) was down 75 cents, or 1.1%, to $65.33 a barrel, having risen 1.2% in the previous session.
"The path for crude prices appears to be higher but until the situation improves in India, WTI will probably struggle to break above the early March high," Edward Moya, senior market analyst at OANDA, said in a note.
Oil demand was already outstripping supply and the shortfall was expected to grow even if Iran boosted exports, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said on Wednesday.