Headlines discussed at LNWM’s Monday morning briefing:
— As expected, April showed a contracting US economy — retail sales down 21.6% vs. April 2019 and factory utilization rate at 65%.
— Another 2.98 million Americans filed for unemployment last week, bringing total to 36.5 million new claims in the past 8 weeks.
— A key index of US consumer sentiment rose slightly in May to 73.7 vs. 71.8 in April and remains well above record low of 55.3 hit in 2008.
— There has been a slight but concerning increase in new coronavirus cases in South Korea, Germany and China as these countries continue to reopen.
— US oil prices moved above $30 per barrel, on optimism about reopening of economies worldwide and cuts by major producers.
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