After officials celebrate positive results from a gilead trial. The data shows that remdesivir has a clear cut positive affect in diminishing the time of recovering this is important for a lot of reasons. Socgen gals. It triples provisions and suffers poor performance at Investment Banking business. Nokia takes a 200 million euro hit saying 5g will be an ongoing boost to demand. Elsewhere to facebook focusing on the positives shares jump in after hours trade as the social media giant said ad revenues made a come back and monthly users neared the 3 billion mark we are not immune from this crisis we did see a steep decline in advertising revenue starting about the first week in march. That has continued weve seen some more recent stabilization. A warm welcome to street signs, everybody. The French Economy has suffered the deepest contraction since world war ii meanwhile spanish gdp data also showed that economy slumped 5. 2 , quarter on quarter as the virus brought the countrys economy to a halt. The economy already deepest recession on record. The poll shows First Quarter gdp fell by more than 3 it says italian gdp dropped by as much as 5 . All of that data showing the severity of that impact on the economy is weighing on sentiment. European markets are generally trading lower. We actually opened positively on the back of a strong session on wall street and sentiment boosted by the Federal Reserve comments their commitment to using the full tool box, also the positive data coming out of gilead and the potential covid19 treatment called remdesivir creating a back drop for the markets. As investors prepare for the ecb meeting today. Ftse 100 trading down. Oil and gas stocks weighing on that we are seeing a bit of a bounce back traders are bouncing around. A real mixed picture as investors and traders pour through and put it into context with the market moves thus far after the rally we saw yesterday, the major index on track to see a major losing streak we are looking at a positive start to gains due to continue. Tech continues to be a key focal point. Tech stocks outperformed with tech stocks on the s p today, well get more insight into how they are fairing. Apple and amazon to report later today. In europe, the ecb the main event. The European Central bank is expected to widen its Asset Purchasing Program when they meet this after moon many expect to follow the fed by buying highyield bonds as part of the broader stimulus package. Under pressure to prop up the eurozone agreeing on the details of the rescue package. Government debt is set to surge this year due to the pandemic. Lets get out to annetta with more shell be part of that Ecb Press Conference later today how much pressure does madam la guard want to keep on fiscal policymakers when it comes to Monetary Policy decisions . Yes, probably she wants to keep the pressure up thats quite understandable. She has been saying over and over that the ecb cannot be the only play under town the fiscal side has to get their act together their response should be bold. As bold as the ecb response to the unprecedented crisis the eurozone is in or the unprecedented economic crisis. The new Economic Data is probably not a big surprise to the ecb. Christine lagarde earlier said the eurozone could contract by as much as 15 this year that gives you the idea of how pessimistic she is about the european outlook we are getting hints that they could upgrade or enlarge their current pep program, which is the pandemic emergency program, they have set up last month. Thats highly questionable for today. They most likely will have to increase over the course of the year if you look at where they stand already, the program, the 1. 1 trillion would run out by autumn of this year which might be too early an enlargement is very likely. Also, what is interesting as you were pointing out is whether we get details of what they are willing to buy will it be also junk bonds taking on bulk and high yields in the corporate world what will it be . It seems like many corporates, the debt markets are actually closed we have been hearing from many markets currently. Its super difficult given the uncertainties of the outlook that will be one area of questioning and potential answers from madam lagarde of course, she will be requested of how much yield targeting they are now doing. That is a very controversial issue inside the ecb it might be needed given the moves towards more fragmentation and higher yields. The ecb is already in the market we have seen yields coming down. Another area of most likely interest will be what they are planning on doing to prop up the banks to keep them a float and lending to the real economy. The recent Lending Survey was suggesting that financing conditions have tightened. Thats not in the interest of the ecb at all back to you. Thank you look forward to covering with you at decision time laider today. Lets bring in the chief economist and karen with us. One thing that stood out in your notes, the comment that now is the time to create policy for repair and recovery. How will that likely fit in to what well hear from madam la guard later today . Is. It is a very interesting moment for Christine Lagarde to decide if she will do compared to mr. Powell did yesterday or if she will show the seats maybe more favorable as you mentioned, why not buy the fallen angels and double down on pep. We are talking 1 trillion of debt and the pep is only 750 billion. I believe the ecb is only half as attractive as the fed shes at a cross road and decides whether she should just pay herself or use the full hand of tools she has to be quite clear about the fact that closing the spread may mean capping the spread. If you look at super charging the pep, the ecb could hold more than 50 of government bonds she needs to clarify this because this will be essential to understand what type of stability and targets the ecb has and what type of volatility on the spread and corporate spread, the ecb is ready to tick a lot to go through in terms of detailing and clarifying those points i want to ask from a central bank perspective, what they are thinking and the consequences an decisions they make. They want to see a Massive Equity rally over the report that central bankers have provided to the markets. Do you consider this rally to be an unintended consequence of the Central Bank Action . It is a good question i question every day how the markets could be from the real momentum you look at the numbers they have today, you have the bullish equity markets we have the position where they were disconnected before the crisis right now, the question was indeed whether any price signal is stress worthy because of the unprecedented policy charges i tend to be in that camp the potential for correction of negative news will be high i dont know if that is intensenal at least for those guys on the equity market right now. Can i ask you about any potential change in the psychology and the likes of germany in the past where there have been conversations on the european level for more assistance weve been talking about stronger players like italy and Greece Germany was trying to recover from the trade war and now the hit of covid19. The damp made it 4. 6 this year. Will that change the way germans see this crisis versus other ones in the past just looking at the size of the stimulus and the aggressiveness with which policies and tools were enabled they would if you look further down the road, in these later states of the crisis, germany knows they have not only to make sure that the savings which are tapped into is a big fear in germany right now because of the protection, the income, the drop in consumption is somewhere near 30 . Knowing they need that money to restart and power charge the economy. On the second aspect, they understand we are responsible for repairing the supply chains. German companies cannot recover. They do not have outlets. There is a responsibility to ensure that they sink or swim in the eurozone i think theyve understood this. The question is how far they will go. Pulling from the debt county somehow. It is the organization and im not sure they are ready to go much further they are a bit worried about the longterm of this crisis in berlin, the talks are all about that we dont repeat 2012 mistakes and that we dont Start Talking about an exit and go too far. Everybody knows we need to factor in the life support to italy and some of the banks now piling uptons of nonperforming loans. The pattern of this crisis is also a marathon. I think theyve really changed in the way they approach the crisis, in their responsibility and in being in the lead to recover from the eurozone. But they are pacing themselves when it comes to the tool box. There is also a conversation to be had that the ecb conveys being in charge of this stage, we saw an announcement on the scheduled upgrade on italy we saw the german bund yield minus 5. 1. How does the ecb not force the hand and maintain control . It is a good question this rate mitigation risk is not that high. Being very strong and moving to the fallen stage in europe, it is all about the sovereign press and the banks of some what sovereign and corporates are not affected by location to somehow lessen the loop between sovereign and companies or sovereign and banks is part of the stability implicit mandate. We know you wont prevent a full rate migration. Cap markets have been very volatile there is a coming wave of rating downgrades because of the financial position of companies that may have lost as much as three months of turnovers. We estimate that 15,000 companies were zombified bankruptcy in europe may increase compared to last year this will be basically seen and is already quite pricey now. The ecb has a role to play there. They will do it by showing that they are ready to go by the fed into buying the fallen angels into doubling to add more Corporate Credit into what they are doing. Thank you for flushing it out. A lot to look forward to today and karen, thank you as well lets remind you that me and annetta will be hosting a special coverage of the ecbs decision we will cover the decision as well as the Virtual Press conference beginning at 13 40 cet. Please do tune in. I want to bring you a couple of fresh comments out of the German Health industry. We are seeing a bounce this morning. They say that they estimate the r number, the speed of reproductive rate stands at 0. 76 the rate of people infected people can pass the virus on to. Anything above 1 is considered alarming they say it stands at 0. 76 they recommend anyone with symptoms get themselves tested, we have the capacity to do it. Germany has been aggressive with testing. A couple of encouraging data points there lets get a check on asian markets where some of the positive momentum has filtered through. Closing higher nikkei 225 up 2. 1 on the back of comments and more support to come. Also the positive news flow around gilead. Let me detail what we heard yesterday. Shares after the experimental drug showed positive results in treating covid19. Showing remdesivir helped patients recover more quickly than standard care earlier this month, a leaked memo discussing a failed trial President Trump said he was encouraged by the news it is a beginning tony explained it really well. It is a beginning, that means you build on it. Just as a building block, i love that it is a positive event white house dr. Fauci also feels it is positive it shows a positive affect in diminishing the time of recovery we learned two different pieces of data came through offering complimentary insight into this drug, remdesivir the two things to take away are the data from the studies show that remdesivir appears to shorten Recovery Time and when treating patients with the disease, a fiveday treatment course is as effective as 10 days these two pieces of information are important because, one, it shows prove of concept that a drug can block this virus. Patients treated in the National Institute of health study were covered in 11 days with remdesivir versus 15 days with a placebo. The second study, the one gilead conducted themselves with severe covid19 patients, it was not a controlled study, they found those taking the fiveday course did as well as those with a 10day the results there showing if more people need the drug, there is more to go around certainly adds to promise. We saw boost in not only gilead shares but also in the Broader Market because of the implications we could build on the positive news from remdesivir that could help other drugs 20 come in and add to this certainly a positive development there. Tracking the Stock Performance of the Company Working on a cure, check out cnbc. Com still coming up on street signs. Socgen raises provisions to soften the blow from the coronavirus outbreak more after the break to keep customers and employees in the know. To keep business moving. Comcast business is prepared for times like these. Powered by the nations largest gigspeed network. To help give you the speed, reliability, and security you need. Tools to manage your business from any device, anywhere. And a team of experts here for you 24 7. Weve always believed in the power of working together. Thats why, when every connection counts. You can count on us. Across america, Business Owners are figuring things out. Finding new ways to serve customers. Connect employees. And work with partners. Comcast business is right there with you. With a network that helps give you speed, reliability and security. And enough bandwidth to handle all your connected devices. Voice Solutions Like remote Call Forwarding and readable voicemail. And safe, convenient installation. When every connection counts, you can count on us. Get the connectivity your business needs. Call today. Comcast business. Welcome back let me run you through some of the focus. Socgen has posted a loss after a tripling of Loan Loss Provisions which amounted to 800 million euros. Something that will force them to make deeper cost cuts the company was already embarking and were some what skeptical and see them drop through, now they promise additional cost cuts on top of these. We are seeing a negative reaction clearly the market wasnt expecting to see this measure. Talking about shell. Royal dutch shell has slashed its dividend for the First Time Since the 1940s. Siting a collapse in demand. Shell added that the outlook for oil remains uncertain but expects the Global Economy to continue to see deterioration. Bouncing off the lows but still coming under a great deal of pressure orange in focus this morning posting a 2 rise to 10. 4 billion euros saw Equipment Sales drop in march as three quarters of the sales close in europe. They do not expect significant deviation from objectives in 2020 thats one thing you dont hear often in these markets they are sharing about 60 higher carlsberg is down. The danish brewer warned it will continue to see volume slide added that it has seen signs of recovery in the key Chinese Market shares are down just a touch below the flat line. Basf has withdrawn outlook for 2020 saying it is impossible to estimate the length of the coronavirus pandemic the German Chemical Company warned that earnings could drop as widespread shutdown hit its highest customer, the Auto Industry basf shares were holding up this morning a little better but now trading down about 2 . Lafargeholcim down. Shares of the swiss cement maker fell 0. 2 and hold guidance for 2020, warning that the worst impact is still to come. Shares are about 1. 2 higher the insurance based swiss re swung with a 125 million loss theyve set aside millions to help manage claims the cfo argued the crisis may actually present an opportunity. Caller we think there may well be some opportunities for risk aversion in industries and some of the primary Insurance Companies might be heightened in the second half of this year and into 2021. As a result, swiss re may see some increase in demand rather than the fall. Coming up, nokia shares trade up after that Company Reported results well be back with that after this break welcome back to street signs. These are your headlines coronavirus takes its toll on europe as the sparn economy suffers the biggest contraction on record. The french gdp plunges 5 . The worst reading since the Second World War the negative number has put a damper on the rally despite being on the best move in decades. The u. S. Celebrates results from the remdesivir trial the data shows that remdesivir has a clearcut, positive effect in diminishing the time to recover. This is quite important for a number of reasons. Socgen shares fall after surprising the market. It triples provisions and suffers poor performance at its Investment Banking business. Tech titans take opposing views. Mark zuckerberg with praise and tesla ceo slams the measures they said they cannot leave their house and theyll be arrested if they do. This is fascist. This is not democratic this is not freedom. So markets in europe have now been open about an hour and a half it has been a fairly choppy trading session with stocks around the flat line we are seeing a mixed picture. The dax in particular has been swinging a lot between gains and losses the ftse 100 has been down it has bounced off the lows but been down. Under a bit of pressure down a percentage point we get the gdp numbers in from various european economies showing the severity of the economic hit the impact of these lockdowns. Painting a picture of what we are seeing does this make sense that well see this massive rally when the economic side of things is looking so weak. One of the question marks is how much more policy will there be well get more insight later and a press conference from madam lagarde. So a key focal point lets get a check on u. S. Futures. Yesterday was a strong session for wall street with major inindustry advancing on the back of that gilead news and possible use of remdesivir for treatment. Pointing to u. S. Futures if those levels hold, well start to see positive trade for wool street check stocks outperform with alphabet with the most positive move here on the s p 500 lets check where things stand as we head into the final day of trade in the month youve got the s p up nearly 14 . The dow up about 13 and the nasdaq up nearly 16 that would be on pace to break a threemonth losing streak for the s p that would mark the best monthly performance since 1974 Amazing Things here. The dow would be the best since 1987 for the nasdaq, that would be the best monthly performance since 2000 illustrating how strong markets have been despite the severe impact the coronavirus is having this impact has shown up differently in different sectors. Major tech stocks this year have outperformed the Broader Market. Especially Companies OfferingCloud Based Services theyve been outperforming their rivals this has been the number for the tech sector. They are slightly weaker compared to the tech market. Apple, microsoft, netflix and amazon, very strong. Amazon in focus today. Well go into more detail of what to expect of their earnings let me go over the latest from tesla. The company has remained profitable in the Third Quarter triggering a rally in trade. Analysts expected the group to post a loss due to the crisis after ford reported a 2 billion loss the day before. Tesla burned through nearly 900 million in the First Quarter reversing three quarters of positive cash flow due to halts. The ceo used explicit language demanding that lockdowns in the u. S. Be lifted after closing key manufacturing sights in california and china i think people are going to be very angry about this and are very angry if somebody wants to stay in their house, thats great. They should be allowed to and not compelled to leave to say they cannot leave their house and theyll be arrested if they do, this is fascist this is not democratic this is not freedom. Facebook Ceo Mark Zuckerberg disagreed expressing concern over easing measures too soon. The social media giant said advertising revenues are showing signs of stability following a plunge in march. Facebooks revenue plunged to 18 billion. Telling cnbc the company has seen advertisers returning but it is difficult to predict how the crisis will continue to develop. We are not immune we did see a steep decline in advertising revenue about the first week of march. That continued we have seen recent stabilization as part of the Earnings Release we did see in about the first three weeks of advertising performance. Microsoft shares moved higher after beating on the top and bottom lines after a surge in demand for its Cloud Services global lockdown measures and a rise in at homeworking fuelled a rise the ceo said two years of transformation happened in two months qualcomm shares rose after posting Second Quarter earnings that beat profit the Company Expects a 30 shock in the Third Quarter. Speaking with the ceo at 1700 cet. Posted a 2 decline in revenue. Disrupted the supply chain in china resulting a 2 million hit. The ceo said the company had not seen a slow down in demand in the First Quarter. Caller we have not seen any demand softening in the First Quarter. Our industry is particularly resilient to this crisis there are some markets like latin america where we might see some cuts in cap ex. But we have not seen much beyond that maybe some 5g roll outs might be delayed. We have seen an increase in our opt call and transport business. Apple and amazon will release results later today with both set to report differing impacts from the pandemic. Apple is expected to detail the fall out after withdrawing Second Quarter revenue citing Global Supply constraints and lower demand for the iphone. The coronavirus in the u. S. Has led to a cloers of all its stores there investors will be looking out at how investment the recruitment drive has been in a drive to hire 175,000 people in a bid to meet demand lets go to our Guest Research and global data. Karen is also with us. Thank you for being with us, patrick. With amazon, so many of us have become so reliant through the pandemic we are expecting to see a surge in usage but at what cost . That seems to be the question. That is the key question. They have had to ramp up the amount of staff theyve taken off. They took on 100,000 in the First Quarter. And since then, theyve talked about taking on another 75,000 temporary staff. Theyve talked about making deliveries safe and warehouses safe and all of the things around that that are going to be interesting. What is interesting is what they say about applicants performance it will be interesting to see what they say about trading that period. Amazon had to reconfigure its business with a lot of grocery items. These are lower margin products. What does it mean to overall margins when that reports . They will have an effect on those margins. That will only be for a small period of the three months that theyll be reporting they are moved back with the nonessential items back to the warehouses towards the end of march. I dont think we should worry about that as being an impact ongoing as the crisis continues. Lets pivot to aws. The higher margin part of their business there is a concern that despite expectations being strong around the cloud, you might see impact around some of that spending and the impact across travel and tourism. You might cut back and see the spend on Mission Critical cloud. Everything else might fall by the way side do you expect to see that and have a hit to aws . Well see a global slow down and corporations will expect to cut costs where possible i dont think that the part of Cloud Services aws provides are going to be one of the first things that corporates look to cut. In terms of usage might fluctuate with the levels of demand that those organizations are seeing i dont think that this is going to be particularly a problem for amazon i think with their Retail Business which undoubtedly is going to thrive as people look to buy more function and hobbybased items. Well probably see on line penetration increasing in the longer term. Accelerating in the longer term. On the flip side of that, gaining dominance, potential regulatory scrutiny theyll see, once we are through the pandemic, do you anticipate amazon to come under more scrutiny and investors to maintain that dominance . Thats one for the long term. I dont see that really taking off in the current climate or in the next year, perhaps i think that longer term, well see definitely increased dominance from amazon in the retail space that online penetration will occur as a result of covid19. Regulators will step in and decrease their dominance somehow. But that is still some time off. Can we get to valuation and see from the Tech Community whether they are going to pushup stocks we saw an all time record do you think that company can justify the valuation of the report i think thats a difficult question what weve seen is the valuation constantly under scrutiny and perhaps being overvalued and the amount that this valuation continues to increase and we are beyond its new record highs. I think you can see amazon as being a good investment for some time now the results that come out today, there might be some is scrutiny because the bottom line might not be as good as some may have hoped a few months ago for the long term, it is clear that amazon can ride out these kind of issues to benefit the business in the long term. Lastly, patrick, when weve gone through alphabet and facebook earnings, it seemed to be that investors were cheered on the comments beyond advertising trends what is the similar metric we should be looking out for for amazon we need to think of those as being temporary. Its more going to be about the comments it makes about its april performance which is outside of the period we are reporting on this is key because we have a months trading theyll know about in terms of how things have played out in lockdown. That will be a lot more revealing. Well keep an eye out for that april commentary. Thank you patrick obrien. Karen, thank you as well coming up, the fed keeps rates on hold as the fed warns of an extraordinary shock to the u. S. Economy well have more after the break. There are times when our need to connect really matters. To keep customers and employees in the know. To keep business moving. Comcast business is prepared for times like these. Powered by the nations largest gigspeed network. To help give you the speed, reliability, and security you need. Tools to manage your business from any device, anywhere. And a team of experts here for you 24 7. Weve always believed in the power of working together. Thats why, when every connection counts. You can count on us. The Federal Reserve has held Interest Rates at almost zero and vowed to do what it could. Using a full range of tools to protect jobs and price stability much the central bank which already cut rates twice did not outline any new policy actions this as the u. S. Economy contracted at the fastest rate in more than a decade in the First Quarter. U. S. Gdp fell negative missing estimates. Fed chair warned that scale of the pandemic could lead to longterm damage on the u. S. Economy. It is an extraordinary shock unlike anything certainly thats happened in my lifetime. The shock and force of this will no doubt reveal weaknesses in the financial architecture well have to go to work on those. I also think, it tells you the importance of getting your fiscal house in order. The u. S. Really hadnt gotten back to where it needed to get on fiscal policy President Trump has told reporters he wont extend social distancing guidelines. As unemployment numbers show millions more americans have lost their jobs to the pandemic. Tracie potts joins us now from washington, d. C. We appreciate you being with us so early what is this going to change, the fact that more of the responsibility will now lie with the state as opposed to the federal government well it means that everyone in our country, more than 300 Million People will not be under the same guidelines. Based on what is happening where you live in some areas, people may be able to go out and about much more than others. The federal government will be hands off. We now know 21 of our states will start to lift restrictions against the federal guidelines they are not waiting two weeks for the cases to drop as recommended. The government are making decisions based on their own data and in their own ways you mention unemployment we are expecting those numbers to come out today. The predictions are well see another 3. 5 million. Those numbers may go down but we are looking at 33 Million People, if those numbers hold true 30 Million People that have lost their jobs during this crisis. The focus now for President Trump is trying to get the economy moving again, which Health Experts say can only happen when the Health Issues are addressed making sure that people are staying inside. That they are social distancing and there is enough testing happening to know where this virus is spreading in terms of the ownness shifting to the states, your point is important that each state now has the ability to make its own decisions what does that mean in terms of the risk given there is no sweeping policy that restricts people from traveling from one state to the other they are quite linked still. Correct there will be no travel restrictions to move from one state to another unless a state puts those in place. In texas, they are testing people who come into the state and making them quarantine if theyve come from an area where there is a high degree of coronavirus. There could be spreading between states what this means is that when the federal government, the trump administration, the cdc, the Health Experts say wait 14 days for your cases to drop governors can and have said no we think our numbers look fine and we are going to reopen shopping malls or barber shops, movie theaters to reopen even if the numbers are still rising thats what we are seeing in some states. Thank you tracie potts live from washington, d. C. Just a reminder that you can join annetta and me as we cover the ecb decision yesterday, u. S. Futures rallied on the back of that positive news from gilead on the possible treatment remdesivir we are looking at more gains for wall street albeit modest numbers. That is it for this show im Julianna TatelbaumWorldwide Exchange is coming up next. And. Lets get started. music fades in hey hi it is 5k in new york city. Virus treatment and optimism helping stocks move higher futures are up again but can the street really continue that is helping oil as well. Prices are also up one official here to say that the oil industry may get part of the bailout that it is looking for. New signs of kind of normal. Beijing showing some signs of life well take you live there to talk about how our lives may look in a month or two