During this week, most moves in crude oil prices were attributed to news about supplies being cut from Russia and a demand decrease due to the upcoming Easter holidays.
On Thursday, Volkswagen revealed that its profits had risen in the first quarter of 2022. However, the company commented that future profits might be impacted by the war in Ukraine.
This week, Shanghai reported that the city had reached a new benchmark of new coronavirus cases, as new cases reached above 27,000 on Thursday.
On Wednesday, MasterCard and Nexo announced that they would release a crypto-backed payment card.
This week, Reuters published a report, which indicated that the Chinese COVID-19 lock-downs are bound to further deteriorate the global supply chains.
Bloomberg news revealed this week that Chinese anti-corruption agents were investigating Jack Ma's Ant Group's connections to state owned companies.
At 11:45 GMT, the European Central Bank kept its base rates in the negative zone and revealed that it would end asset purchases only in the third quarter of 2022. The EUR/USD plummeted more than 50 base points or 0.50% in less than ten minutes.
On Wednesday, US mortgage rates increased above 5.00%, as real estate buyers appeared to be rushing to lock in rates before further rises.
Data released this week revealed that imports into China had declined during March due to the Covid lock-downs in major industrial and shipping centres.
During Thursday's trading hours, the price for Natural Gas reached levels not seen since 2008, as the price traded above the 0.7110 level.
This week the St Louis Federal Reserve President James Bullard stated to the Financial Times that the Federal Reserve has to slow down the economy to stop inflation.
On Tuesday, the US Consumer Price Index was released. Monthly inflation in the US was revealed to be at 1.2%. Due to the news, the value of the USD plummeted, as the markets interpreted the news as a signal of incoming US monetary tightening.
On April 13, the Bank of Canada published its monetary policy statement. The central bank hiked its interest rate from 0.50% up to 1.00%, which was an expected 50 base point hike. Moreover, the bank stated that more increases are to be expected, as inflation continues to surge.
On Tuesday, the World Trade Organization announced that it would decrease its forecasts for 2022 global trade volumes.
This week, the stock prices of Deutsche Bank and Commerzbank dropped due to an undisclosed stock holder selling more than 5.00% of the total stock of the two banks.
On April 13, the Reserve Bank of New Zealand hiked interest rates. The markets expected a 0.25% hike that would increase rates up to 1.25%. However, the bank hiked 0.50%, which put the Official Cash Rate at 1.50%.
Data published on Tuesday revealed that the United States small business confidence plummeted in March, as business owners revealed that inflation was their most important problem.
This week, European Union officials met with OPEC representatives in Vienna in order to discuss potential increases of oil production.
In March, auto sales in China decreased by 11.7%, as lockdowns had shut down major centres of economic activity.
Honda has revealed that the company would invest a total of $64 billion in the research and development of electric vehicles. The company's stock price has plummeted almost 20.00% since the company revealed its initial aims at developing EVs.
The German Ministry of Labour stated this week that economic growth in the country would decline to 1.50%.
The President of the US Cleveland Federal Reserve Loretta Mester revealed on Sunday that the United States are bound to continue to experience high inflation even through 2023.
This week, Twitter announced that Elon Musk would not join the company's board of directors, contrary to last week's news.
On Friday, in its weekly research note the Bank of America stated that the macroeconomic situation would deteriorate and push the US into a recession.