News in Brief
Oil climbs almost 3%
Reuters – Oil rose almost 3% on Monday as U.S. recession fears eased and some traders took the view that crude’s recent price slide was overdone with three straight weekly declines for the first time since November.
Brent crude was up $2.05, or 2.7%, at $77.35 a barrel by 1330 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude also gained $2.05, or 2.9%, to $73.39.
Sweden may miss CO2 targets with biofuel cut
AFP – Sweden will struggle to hit its 2030 emissions targets, a government agency warned on Monday, after the country’s minority coalition cut the biofuel that must be added to diesel and gasoline.
The right-wing Sweden Democrats-backed coalition government has already cut fuel taxes, raised tax breaks for people driving to work and ended new electric vehicles subsidies.
Mixing in biofuels from renewable sources is a way to reduce emissions from cars, but the government said at the weekend it will cut the required amount of biofuel to 6% in 2024 and for it to remain at that level until the end of 2026.
Euro zone retail sales fall more than expected
Reuters – Retail sales in the euro zone fell more than expected in March, Eurostat said, as rapid inflation and rising interest rates ate deep into disposable incomes to limit households’ purchasing power.
Retail sales volumes in the 20 nations sharing the euro currency fell by 1.2% in March from the previous month, outpacing the 0.1% drop seen in a Reuters poll of economists.