Stocks were modestly lower in midday Asian trading on Friday, setting the stage for a downbeat end to a turbulent week in financial markets.
Australian shares were down more than 1 percent, pacing the declines. Futures markets suggested Europe and Wall Street would open lower as well.
Wall Street stocks jumped on Thursday after President Trump suggested Saudi Arabia and Russia would call a truce in their clash over oil prices and would cut production. While plentiful oil supplies and low fuel prices are generally positive for the global economy, the clash over prices came at a time of declining demand as the response to the coronavirus outbreak slowed economic activity around the world. Plunging oil prices threatened to destabilize countries and regions where the local economy depends on oil production.
Oil prices surged on Thursday after Mr. Trump’s comments sparked a rally, but they gave up some of those gains in Asian trading on Friday. Bond prices rose, as investors sought to put their money in investments generally considered safe.
In Japan, the Nikkei index was down 0.6 percent. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index was down 0.6 percent. In mainland China, the Shanghai Composite index was down 0.3 percent, while South Korea’s Kospi was down 0.6 percent.
Oil prices surged on Thursday, setting off a rally in shares of energy companies, after President Trump said that he expected that Saudi Arabia and Russia would substantially cut their oil production to halt the collapse of prices.
Crude oil futures, which had already been climbing on Thursday, surged and shares of oil and gas companies rallied. West Texas Intermediate, the U.S. crude benchmark, rose about (percent, and) (Occidental Petroleum) was the best performing stock in the S&P , with a gain of about 25 percent. Apache
rose nearly (percent, and) (Halliburton) gained more than (. The rally bolstered the stock market, with the S&P (ending the day up more than 2 percent.)
Oil prices had been hammered as the coronavirus pandemic all but eliminated travel and damped demand for energy. A price war that broke out between Saudi Arabia and Russia last month intensified the decline. After the countries failed to reach a deal on production cuts, both instead increased output in an effort to gain market share .
The combination of slumping demand and the contest between two of the world’s largest oil producers had pushed crude oil prices down by 94 percent in March alone, wreaking havoc on the energy industry, with oil companies slashing budgets, and refineries cutting production of gasoline, diesel and jet fuel.
The possibility of some relief to the industry was also welcomed by stock investors looking for some good news. Earlier on Thursday, a report on jobless claims showed that 6.6 million Americans filed for unemployment benefits last week in the latest sign of the economic damage wrought by the coronavirus pandemic.
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