Taiwanese Stocks are Witnessing their Worst day Since 1994

Increasing coronavirus cases in Taiwan also caused panic in the environment, where the worries caused by the increasing inflation in the global markets receded. The country’s benchmark stock index fell more than 8 percent on concerns over the new cases; the sharpest decline since 1994 was observed.

Taiwan may raise its Covid-19 alert level in the “coming days,” Health Minister Chen Shih-Chung said on Wednesday, warning of an extremely serious situation that sent the island’s stock market tanking. The announcement that the alarm level will be raised in the country supported the panic sales in the stock market.

On the other hand, a statement came from the Taiwan administration that the financial system is healthy and there is no need for the public to panic. While the decline in the stock market decreased with the statements from the authorities, the Taiwan Taiex Index closed the day at 15902.32 points with a 4.1% decline.

Describing the situation as “very serious,” Chen told parliament the level could be lifted a notch to three, limiting gatherings to five people indoors and ten outdoors, as well as the closing of non-essential businesses. “If there is the slightest failure in containment, then we will soon enter level three,” Chen said.

President Tsai Ing-wen called on people not to panic and said there were plenty of medical supplies.

“At this moment, the challenge is still severe. Please be alert and follow the guidelines. I believe we will be able to overcome this challenge together,” she said at the headquarters of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party.

OPEC: Global Oil Demand will Increase by 6 Million Barrels Per Day

OPEC announced that global oil demand would be 96 million 500 thousand barrels this year, with an increase of approximately 6 million barrels daily compared to last year.

According to the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) report, the uncertainty caused by developments such as increases in the number of Covid-19 cases, the emergence of new variants, and vaccination practices continues to affect oil demand, according to the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) report on the oil market for April.

Among developed economies, the most significant contributor to demand will be the United States and North America. However, demand is not expected to return to pre-crisis levels this year.

“Rebounding transportation fuels, mainly gasoline, in addition to healthy light- and middle-distillate requirements are assumed to support the oil demand recovery as we advance,” OPEC noted.

Developments in global and regional economic outlooks, developments in industrial activity and labor markets, and monetary and fiscal incentives draw attention as factors that can impact demand in the short term.

On the other hand, the positive developments in fuel data in the USA and the acceleration of vaccination studies, the increase in activity by strengthening the signals of returning to average increase the optimistic expectations for the second quarter of the year.

It is estimated that global oil demand will increase by 6 million barrels (6.58%) daily in this period and reach 96 million 500 thousand barrels.

EU is Preparing to Take an Essential Step for the Tourism Industry

After a meeting with European affairs ministers on Tuesday, the European Commission said it expects to finish work on a Covid-19 certificate soon, which will enable people to travel more efficiently this summer in the 27-nation bloc.

EU Commission Vice President Maros Sefcovic said that technical and legal studies are continuing to put the EU’s vaccine certificate into use and hope to complete these studies this summer.

Emphasizing that the certificate will be compatible with smartphones and should be compatible with other EU countries, Sefcovic stated that they want to host tourists from different parts of the world.

“That’s why I informed the ministers about our meetings with the US, the World Health Organization, and our neighbors,” Sefcovic said but did not give information about which of these countries. “This is a priority for our citizens, and therefore I believe we will deliver (on the certificate) before summer,” Maros Sefcovic said after the meeting in Brussels. He said he expected a full roll-out by the summer.

The vaccine certificate, which the EU intends to put into use in June, primarily aims to enable residents of the EU to travel within the union without being subject to travel restrictions.

It is planned that the certificate, which will include vaccine information, negative PCR test results, and data showing the antibody status if they have previously had Covid-19, will also be in global compatibility with the study conducted with the World Health Organization (WHO).
EU officials argue that vaccine certificates should be valid globally in the future.

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