Oil extends gains after record rally but stocks struggle
Crude prices bounced back from earlier losses Friday, to extend the previous day’s record surge following reports that OPEC had called an emergency meeting for next week.
The news reinforced optimism in the embattled oil market after Donald Trump claimed Russia and Saudi Arabia were set to slash output.
However, equities struggled into the weekend after another thunderous rise in US jobless claims highlighted the economic devastation caused by the coronavirus.
As the number of people with COVID-19 tops a million and the death toll continues to climb, investors remain hostage to uncertainty as they try to gauge the long-term economic impact of the pandemic, which is widely expected to plunge the planet into recession.
