SYDNEY - Global stocks started the week on the back foot as investors readied for the start of earnings season amid unprecedented uncertainty over the corporate impact of the coronavirus pandemic. Oil prices climbed in volatile trading after a historic deal to cut output.
Meanwhile, without an effective therapy or a vaccine for the novel coronavirus, the US economy could face 18 months of rolling shutdowns as the outbreak recedes and flares up again, Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis President Neel Kashkari said. The euro was steady at $1.0935 after France, Germany, Italy and Spain reported a slowdown in new coronavirus cases.