1) U.S. jobless claims fell for 7-th straight week
The number of Americans filed for unemployment benefits fell by 1,000 last week to 268,000, according to the report of the Labor Department on Thursday. The number was a new low since the Covid-19 pandemic and also a drop for the seventh straight week as well. Jobless claims have been moving toward a pre-pandemic level of around 220,000 a week.
2) Evergrande is highly likely going to default, says S&P
S&P Global Ratings believed a default is highly likely for the cash-strapped real estate developer China Evergrande Group while adding that the firm has lost the capacity to sell new homes, which means its main business model is effectively defunct. Evergrande Group on Thursday was selling the entire stake in film and television streaming company HengTen Network Holdings for HK$2.13 billion (approx. $273 million). The sale of HengTen is Evergrande’s latest effort to raise capital.
3) Ford plans to pump EVs production to 600,000 by 2023
An American multinational automobile manufacturer Ford Motor plans to increase its global production capacity of electric vehicles to 600,000 units by 2023. The production ramp up will tanked Ford as the second-largest U.S.-based producer of electric vehicles.
CEO Jim Farley said that the demand for electric vehicles “is so much higher than we expected”.
4) Oil prices rebounded from a six-week low
Oil prices bounced back from a six-week low as investors monitor the situation closely after world’s largest oil consumers, including China, on Thursday agreed with the move proposed by the U.S. to release their strategic reserves to ease demand and bring down the oil prices.
