News Headlines - 10 March 2020

▽Oil Plunges Most Since 1991 After Producers Embark on Price War - Bloomberg

Oil crashed the most in 29 years as Saudi Arabia and Russia vowed to pump more in a battle for market share just as the coronavirus spurs the first decline in demand since 2009.
Futures slumped by about 25% in New York and London Monday as Moscow and Riyadh began an all-out price war after the collapse of talks between members of the OPEC+ alliance last week.
Saudi Arabia slashed its official crude pricing and is threatening record output. Russia’s largest producer, meanwhile, said it will ramp up production next month. What’s more, all of the annual growth the International Energy Agency had anticipated last month has been erased, and oil demand is now expected to contract by 90,000 barrels a day this year.

▽Afghanistan: Rival 'presidents' hold two inaugurations - BBC News

Two Afghan politicians - who both claim they won the presidential election - have declared themselves president at rival inauguration ceremonies.
The electoral commission says incumbent Ashraf Ghani narrowly won September's vote, but Abdullah Abdullah alleges the result is fraudulent.
The old rivals both held positions in the previous government.

▽Thailand's disbanded Future Forward Party relaunched as new group, Move Forward - The Straits Times

The remaining 55 MPs of Thailand's now-defunct Future Forward Party launched a new group - Move Forward - on Sunday (March 8), two weeks after the original party's dissolution... Mr Pita vowed to continue the work of Future Forward but without involving its former leaders: "The principles (of Future Forward) will not change, but it will be our own journey and our own decisions... Move Forward will continue to push five Bills proposed by Future Forward, Mr Pita added.
These relate to the revocation of 17 orders by the military junta in power from the 2014 coup until the first half of last year, revisions to labour laws, an end to conscription and to monopoly in the liquor industry and the clean air act.

▽Japan begins coronavirus travel curbs on China and South Korea | The Japan Times

The government implemented tougher border control measures Monday for travelers from China and South Korea, effectively banning tourists from the two countries through the end of this month, as it fights to prevent a surge in coronavirus infections.
Nearly 3 million visas already issued to South Korean and Chinese nationals, including residents of Hong Kong and Macao, were invalidated... All arrivals from the territories, including Japanese and other foreign nationals, will be asked to undergo a 14-day self-quarantine on a voluntary basis.

▽BOJ's ETF holdings making on-paper losses when Nikkei below 19,500 - The Mainichi

The Bank of Japan's exchange-traded fund holdings are in the red when the Nikkei stock index is below around the 19,500-point line, its governor said Tuesday, following a market sell-off that briefly sent the index to the 18,800 level... The BOJ's ETF holdings stood at about 27 trillion yen ($257 billion) as of the end of September. At that point, the break-even line was when the Nikkei was around the 19,000-point level, according to Kuroda.