Events that moved the market l Q2 2020

The automotive industry, which forms 6.9 decline in vehicle sales in March compared to the same month last year.

As an alternative to "more drastic" measures Pam Golding reduces staff members’ working hours and salaries by 30%.

EOH proposes across-the-board salary reductions of 20%, except for staff members earning less than approximately R250 000 per year.

The world’s top oil producers sign historic deal to cut global petroleum output by nearly a tenth.

Anheuser-Busch InBev halves its proposed dividend, saving about $1.1 billion as the coronavirus pandemic has shut bars and cut beer drinking.

The SA Reserve Bank cuts the repo rate by 100 basis points, the second major cut in less than a month.

The gold price trades above $1,720 per ounce, making it worth over R1 million a kilogram.

The US Small Business Administration unit tasked with managing the US$349 billion COVID-19 program hits the bottom of its funding barrel.

China experiences its first economic contraction in decades in the first quarter of 2020, with the pandemic leaving China reliant on fragile domestic demand to spur a recovery. Gross domestic product shrinks 6.8% from a year ago.

In an unprecedented day of trading, the price for the West Texas Intermediate May oil futures contract trades as low as minus $40.32 with distressed cargoes on the market looking for buyers willing to take delivery.

One in five SA businesses have laid off staff due to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, according to the results of a new Statistics SA business impact survey. The survey was based on the responses of 707 business across all sectors of the SA economy.

President Ramaphosa announces a R500 billion stimulus package, to mitigate against the disruption of the pandemic.

The Land Bank defaults on debt that was due, triggering cross-default on certain other bonds.

US gross domestic product contracts at 4.8% annualised in the January-March period, the largest drop since 2008.

Edcon commences with voluntary business rescue proceedings. About R2bn of sales are lost due to the nationwide lockdown.

GDP output in the European Union drops by 3.5 in April.

South Africa is cut deeper into junk by S&P Global Ratings to BB-, three notches below investment-grade.

The Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (Prasa) proposes voluntary severance packages to union members as its financial position weakens during the pandemic.

Comair, the owner of kulula.com and the local operator for British Airways, implements a business rescue plan as it has not been in operation since 17 March due to flight bans.

Initial jobless claims total 3.17 million in the week ended 2 May. That brings the seven-week total to about 33.5 million.

The market mood stabilises globally as Beijing reports a 3.5% rise in April exports, confounding market expectations of a sharp fall, as factories restart output after lockdown, raising hopes of an economic recovery.

Group Five no longer complies with some JSE listing requirements, and is also unable to release its annual results. The construction company's shares will be removed from the JSE on 15 June.

MTN says data was one of its main drivers of revenue growth in the first financial quarter, as the country was placed under lockdown. It recorded a 26.4 % jump in data revenue in the quarter ended 31 March.

The Reserve Bank's monetary policy committee votes to cut the repo rate for the fourth time this year, from 4.25. As a result of the cut, the prime lending rate falls from 7.75.

The implementation of alert level 3 from the beginning of June means most sectors can re-start operations, subject to observance of strict health protocols and social distancing rules.

Logistics and fleet management company Barloworld announces group-wide retrenchments as it battles the economic shock of Covid-19. Its Avis Budget Rent-a-Car business saw fleet use drop from over 75.

Markit’s Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) falls to 32.5 in May from 35.1 in April, its lowest level since the survey began in 2011. All sub-indexes slumped to their lowest on record, with sharp declines in employment and new orders in addition to crumbling output due to lockdown.

The ECB increases its emergency bond purchase scheme by 600 billion euros, more than expected, to 1.35 trillion euros, boosting risk-on assets such as the South African rand.

The Nasdaq Composite index hits a record high, recovering from the Covid-19 slump on the back of better-than-expected US unemployment data.

The World bank forecasts the “deepest global recession since World War II” and the “highest synchronisation of national recessions since 1870”.

Fortress becomes the first South African REIT to write off part of its rent due for April and May. It collected only 51.3 of retail rent for this month, which was worst hit by the lockdown.

In the second quarter of this year, business confidence in South Africa fell to its lowest level ever recorded on the RMB/BER Business Confidence Index, which started in 1975.

US crude stockpiles rise by 5.72 million barrels to 538.1 million barrels, the highest level in data compiled by Bloomberg since 1982.

The UK economy contracts a record 20.4% in April as businesses were stymied in lockdown. The contraction means the nation has effectively seen almost 18 years of growth wiped out in two months.

The number of people claiming unemployment in the UK increases by more than 1.5 million in the two months through May to nearly 3 million.

Cell C launches a retrenchment consultation process impacting 960, or nearly 40%, of its 2 500 employees.

SA's unemployment rate jumps from 29.1. The last time unemployment was above 30.

SA consumer inflation slows to 3.0% year-on-year in April, its lowest in nearly 15 years. On a year-on-year basis, only food prices increased.

The SA economy records its third consecutive quarter of economic decline, falling by 2.0 and -0.8% in the fourth and third quarters of 2019.