All attention will continue to be on the number of new Covid-19 cases reported daily this week, in the hope that the movement control order (MCO) will reduce the spread of the virus. Expect the heartbeat of investors and traders to continue to race as they watch global financial markets react to the economic effects of the pandemic.

The extreme volatility in the markets over the last two weeks has not been helped by the spat between the world’s two largest oil producers, Russia and Saudi Arabia, which has plunged the international Brent benchmark to about US$28 per barrel as at last Friday, from US$69 at the start of the year.

Last Thursday, United Nations secretary-general Antonio Guterres said a global recession, owing to the Covid-19 pandemic, is a “near certainty” and could be of record dimensions. The Group of 20 nations, which comprises 19 countries and the European Union, is expected to hold an extraordinary virtual summit meeting this week to put forward a coordinated set of policies in response to the crisis.

On the economic calendar, the Singapore data focus will be on its Consumer Price Index (CPI) for February on Monday and February industrial production on Thursday.

In a report last Friday, UOB Global Economics and Markets Research said it expects Singapore’s headline CPI inflation to ease to 0.6% year on year in February from 0.8% y-o-y in January, while core inflation may accelerate to 0.5% y-o-y from 0.3% y-o-y in January.

Other economic data releases that are of interest this week include China’s February industrial profits, which have been contracting y-o-y since February last year. UOB says the impact of the Covid-19 outbreak may be “a significant double-digit contraction”.

Elsewhere, the Bank of Thailand (BoT) will make its monetary policy decision on Wednesday. UOB says BoT is widely expected to cut the policy rate; the question is by how much.

Over in South Korea, its first 20-day trade data for March will be released on Monday. The data will give an early glimpse of how badly the trade numbers plunge because of the impact of Covid-19 (from +4.7% y-o-y in exports and +12.4% y-o-y in imports for February), notes UOB.

Indonesia’s markets will be closed on Wednesday and Myanmar’s on Thursday for holidays.

The key things to watch in developed economies in the week ending March 27 is the US manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index in March, which will be released by Markit Economics on March 24. The PMI for the US declined to 50.1 in February from 50.9 in January. On March 25, the US will also announce its fourth-quarter 2019 gross domestic product growth, followed the next day by its core inflation reading for February.

On Monday, the Australian senate will meet to consider the government’s stimulus package in relation to the Covid-19 pandemic and other immediate business.

The Bank of England is the only G7 central bank with a scheduled monetary policy decision this week on Thursday. The BoE had earlier announced further monetary policy measures to mitigate the economic impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, including cutting its bank rate by 15 basis points to a record low 0.10% from 0.25%, and increasing its bond buying programme by £200 billion (RM1.04 trillion), to £645 billion.

The European Council meeting, originally due to take place on Thursday and Friday, has been postponed in view of the widening Covid-19 outbreak in Europe. Instead, the leaders agreed to hold a video conference this week.

Malaysian court cases are on hold this month because of the MCO. The hearings of all civil and criminal cases scheduled from March 18 to 31 have been postponed.

The release of Bank Negara Malaysia’s annual report 2019, originally scheduled for Wednesday, has also been postponed to a later date. On the corporate front, companies due to release their quarterly financial results this week include property firm Gamuda Bhd, which is set to release its second-quarter 2020 earnings on Wednesday. Eco World Development Group Bhd and its international arm Eco World International Bhd will release their first-quarter 2020 results on Thursday.

According to Bloomberg data, other financial releases include VS Industry Bhd (2QFY2020), Kim Loong Resources Bhd (4QFY2020), Daibochi Bhd (3QFY2020) and Glomac Bhd (3QFY2020) on Thursday, while NTPM Holdings Bhd will announce its 3QFY2020 results on Friday.

Things will be quiet this week in relation to shareholders’ meetings, however, as listed companies such as LPI Capital Bhd have postponed their annual general meetings, to after the end of the MCO on March 31.