Chinese pharmaceutical producers have seen a rising trend of inquiries from clients in the US and some European countries that used to go to India for medicine supplies, as the ongoing coronavirus epidemic in India posed production and logistics disruptions.
LONDON, June 1 (Reuters) - Hedge funds cut their bullish positions in petroleum last week for the third week running, though the rate of selling was slower than in previous weeks and positions are broadly unchanged since the middle of March.
Hedge funds and other money managers sold the equivalent of 8 million barrels in the six most important petroleum futures and options contracts in the week to May 25, according to exchange and regulatory reports.
Small sales in Brent (-12 million barrels), U.S. gasoline (-6 million) and European gas oil (-6 million) were partly offset by small buying in NYMEX and ICE WTI (+10 million) and U.S. diesel (+6 million).
Asian equity markets hit a one-month peak on Tuesday, buoyed by the global stock rally, while gold flirted with five-month highs ahead of European and U.S. data this week that will likely offer clues on the health of the world economy.
By emphasizing unity of jointly weathering COVID-19 pandemic, and boosting economic recovery and cooperation on international and regional issues, the BRICS Foreign Ministers virtual meeting on Tuesday was seen by observers as sending a strong signal of bloc members desire to uphold multilateralism, and deterrence to countries like the US that tried to fragment the organization and sow discord among the BRICS members.