China’s Hubei province reports zero new coronavirus cases

China reports 98 new imported coronavirus cases in Mainland as of end-April 12 vs 97 a day earlier.

• China’ s Hubei province reports zero new coronavirus cases as of end-April 12 vs none a day earlier.
• China says total of 82,160 coronavirus cases in mainland china reported as of end-April 12.
• Total of 3,341 deaths from coronavirus outbreak reported in mainland China as of end-April 12.

– RTRS

China is trying to jump-start its huge economy without triggering a second wave of COVID-19 cases and it is serving as a template for the rest of the world as major economies, such as the USA, weigh up the prospects of getting some of its States back to work. In addition to the billions of dollars which China is spending on hospital treatments, the Chinese government has swamped the money markets with stimulus and pumped money into infrastructure projects to create jobs. However, there are questions over China's eagerness to control the narrative with little transparency suspected. Also, and overall, the intense pressure to resume work, coupled with the fear of a second outbreak will likely make for a distorted picture of what's really happening on the ground.

Markets are likely to remain fragile, with opportunities on both sides of the spread. Volatility is here to stay which should underpin the US dollar and weigh on commodity-linked currencies and emerging market-FX.