Economic sanctions should be lifted to prevent hunger crises in countries hit by COVID-19 – UN rights expert

China is boosting U.S. energy imports at a time when the world is swamped with excess supply after the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and Russia failed to extend production cuts and as measures to curb the spread of the coronavirus undermined demand.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI fell 410.32 points, or 1.84%, to 21,917.16, the S&P 500 .SPX lost 42.06 points, or 1.60%, to 2,584.59 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC dropped 74.05 points, or 0.95%, to 7,700.10.

At the close, the Shanghai Composite index was down 0.57% at 2,734.52.

China's oil product consumption over the first two months of 2020 dropped 14.1% year on year to 41.94 million mt.

The preliminary level for dry natural gas production in January 2020 was 2,930 billion cubic feet (Bcf), or 94.5 Bcf/d. This level was 5.9 Bcf/d (6.7%) higher than the January 2019 level of 88.6 Bcf/d.

Many manufacturing operations in India were forced to halt to contain the spread of the virus and production has seen a decline, especially among automakers, with the outbreak affecting supply chains.

Over the next decade, traditional fuel-based generation will shrink as a proportion of the power mix. This will increase the flexibility needs of utility and power markets,

The benchmark Nikkei average fell 4.5% to a one-week closing low of 18,065.41. However, overall trading was subdued, with the volume of shares traded on the main board valued at 2.72 trillion yen, its lowest level in a month.

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