This archive report was first published on 13 June 2020.
US stocks closed the week higher, buoyed by the country's Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin's announcement that the government had discussed plans to reopen the economy. This move came as Mnuchin dismissed reports of a second wave of coronavirus hitting the country.
On Wednesday, Fed Chairman Jerome Powell stated that the institution would continue to use its powers to support the US economy amid the downturn caused by the pandemic. Powell warned that the decline in the country's Q2 GDP would be the most severe on record.
Adobe Systems reported a 14% rise in revenue for the second quarter of 2020, reaching $3.13 billion. The firm's net income also increased to $1.1 billion from $633 million in the same period in 2019. However, Adobe's product revenue declined to $128 million from $152.8 million, while its diluted EPS grew by 76% to $2.27.
German multinational automotive manufacturing company Volkswagen AG announced that its global sales fell by 34% in May compared to the same month in 2019, standing at 609,400 units. Western Europe recorded a decline of 57% to 147,400 vehicles, while North America sales fell by 39% to 52,800. In a surprising turn of events, Chinese sales rose by 5.7% to 330,300 vehicles sold in May. Global deliveries between January and May fell 30% to 3,089,000 units.
Microsoft joined the list of tech firms limiting the use of facial-recognition systems, announcing that it would not sell the technology to police departments until there is a federal law regulating it. Amazon imposed a 1-year ban on police use of its facial recognition software Rekognition, while IBM announced it was leaving the facial recognition business. Following Microsoft's decision, Trump retweeted a user calling for Microsoft to be banned from holding federal contracts.
Despite reports of a second wave of coronavirus hitting the United States, the country's director of the National Economic Council Larry Kudlow stated that they would not shut down again, supporting sentiments by Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin. UK PM Boris Johnson said he wasn't surprised by the country's record slump in GDP in April, stating that his government had always recognized that the crisis would affect the economy.
Italy's Minister of Economy Roberto Gualtieri announced that the country's economy could contract by more than 8% in 2020 driven by the COVID-19 pandemic. The government approved a stimulus package worth €55 billion aimed at boosting Italy's businesses and citizens to overcome the negative impact of the virus.
Rating agency Fitch Ratings expects Germany to suffer the worst recession since World War II, with a 6.7% GDP contraction for the full year of 2020, it said in a statement.
